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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.