Uchar Waterfall

Uchar, also called the Big Chulcha, is a cascade on the Chulcha river where it drops something like a hundred and sixty metres over a jumble of blocks - not a clean fall but a chaotic slide of water through rock, and the largest of its kind in the Altai. It is young: it was formed when a rockslide blocked and rearranged the river, generally placed at around two hundred years ago, so the surrounding rock has not been smoothed and the whole thing still looks raw. Reaching it means crossing the Chulyshman by boat and then walking about eight kilometres up the Chulcha valley on a trail that includes exposed traverses on the cliff above the river with cable handrails, loose ground and a couple of tributary crossings, taking three to four hours each way. It lies inside the Altaisky reserve, so a permit is required, and the trail is not for anyone uneasy with exposure.

The landscape

• The cascade - about a hundred and sixty metres of water through jumbled blocks.
• The recent origin - formed by a rockslide roughly two centuries ago.
• The traverse trail - exposed cliff sections with cable handrails above the river.
• The rawness - rock still unsmoothed because the fall is geologically new.

When to go

June to September; the trail is dangerous when wet and impassable in winter. A full day - eight kilometres each way plus the boat crossing.

Practical notes

The trail has genuinely exposed sections with long drops. Eight kilometres each way over rough ground is a full hard day. A reserve permit and the boat crossing are both required and charged. Take water - there is none reliable on the route.

Nearby

The Chulyshman valley and Katu-Yaryk are downstream; Lake Teletskoye is north.

Key facts