Podilski Tovtry

The Tovtry are the remains of a barrier reef that grew in the Miocene sea some fifteen million years ago, now a ridge of limestone hills running diagonally across Podillia for around two hundred and fifty kilometres, harder than the ground around them and left standing as the plain wore down. The national park protects the Ukrainian section, along with the Dniester canyon edge, steppe flora on the limestone, caves and a string of historic towns.

Background

The park was created on July 27, 1996 to protect the natural landscape of Podillia. It spreads across Khmelnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi Raions of Khmelnytskyi Oblast and covers 2,613.16 km2, which makes it the largest nature conservation area in Ukraine. Its records list 1,700 types of flora, 60 of them in the Red Book of Ukraine, and 217 types of fauna, 29 of them also in the Red Book. Within its bounds are 19 archaeological sites and 302 monuments of historical and cultural heritage, 205 of them in Kamianets-Podilskyi, the castle among them. On 32.25 hectares of forest stands the Park of predators Arden, a rehabilitation centre for brown and Himalayan bears, wolves, foxes and birds of prey.

Source: Wikipedia, "Podilski Tovtry National Nature Park"

The landscape

• The fossil reef - a Miocene barrier reef left standing as a chain of limestone hills.
• The steppe flora - dry limestone grassland with species found in few other places.
• The canyon edge - the Dniester valley forming the park's southern boundary.
• The historic towns - Kamianets-Podilskyi and Sataniv inside the park boundary.

When to go

May to October is the season, with the limestone grassland flowering in May and June. Autumn colour along the canyon is good. Winter is bleak on the open ridges.

Good to know

The park is huge and diffuse, with no single entrance or centre; it is a landscape rather than a destination. Marked trails are few. Information is thin outside Kamianets-Podilskyi.

Nearby

Kamianets-Podilskyi is at the centre, and Sataniv is north along the ridge.

Key facts