In ancient times, human settlements were built along the banks of rivers. Since this provided them with food, clean water and the opportunity to trade with other tribes and communities. River rafting was a way to travel between settlements.
Today there are not many rivers on the planet that have retained their natural beauty and have not been spoiled by civilization. One of them is the left tributary of Ufa - Yuryuzan, and rafting along it has become a tourism and recreation industry.
Yuryuzan
Yuryuzan (river) has a length of 404 km, and originates on Mount Corner Mashak in Eastern Bashkiria. It is considered an ideal place for family tourism and sports. According to the complexity of the rapids, it belongs to the initial level, which makes rafting on the Yuryuzan River accessible even for beginners.
Part of the riverbed runs among the mountains, so the main landscape is sheer cliffs covered with trees and shrubs. To the section of the middle course, which ends near the village of Verkhnyaya Luka, the riverconsidered mountainous, and its width is from 30 to 50 m.
The next section is called lowland, and the channel widens to 110 m and often winds. When the Yuryuzan (river) enters the Ufa plateau, it is again surrounded by rocks, and the width becomes from 70 to 100 m with a slope of up to 0.8 m/km.
The constantly changing structure of the coast, picturesque places, as if specially created by nature for parking, attract a large number of water rafting enthusiasts from all over the country.
Nature of the Yuryuzan River
To the place where the Katav tributary flows into the Yuryuzan, the river is considered quite stormy and winding. The place below the confluence of the tributary becomes calm, and from the city of Ust-Katav and to the border of Bashkiria with the regional territory, the picturesque Yuryuzan River and its surrounding area are declared a natural monument.
The river bed at this interval during the flood reaches 200 m wide, in another period it does not exceed 30 m at a depth of 25-35 cm on the riffles and 4 meters on the reaches. There are many caves in the rocks on high and steep banks, some of which were once the sites of ancient tribes.
The most picturesque place on the river is the Bolshoy Limonovsky ridge, the height of the rocks of which hangs over the water at a height of 80 m. wolves, lynxes and stoats. The most common birds are black grouse, capercaillie and hazel grouse.
Rafting on the Yuryuzan River is a great impression of the beauty of the surrounding nature,purity of water and air.
Sights of Yuryuzan
Among the famous sights of the river are caves and grottoes in the rocks surrounding it and the Yangan-tau resort.
There are so many caves that it is simply impossible to explore everything, but the most famous and visited, Idrisovskaya, is located at an altitude of 45 m above the river level. Its length is 93 meters, which includes several grottoes with corridors. Well-preserved drawings of ancient people's rock art can be seen on the walls of the Idrisovskaya cave.
Another famous cave is named after the Bashkir hero of the time of Emelyan Pugachev, Salavat Yulaev, who hid in it after the defeat of the uprising. It consists of 3 halls with high ceilings and a beautiful arched entrance.
Another attraction of the river is located outside the village of Akulovo, where the "burning mountain" Yangan-Tau is located. It is famous for its hot springs, where people from all over the country come to treat rheumatism and joint diseases.
Many tourists also prefer to visit the famous Kurgazak hot spring, where the temperature remains +16 degrees even in severe frosts.
Also Yuryuzan (river) is rich in picturesque islands, where fir, pine, birch, aspen, linden and wild cherry grow. On many of them you can stop, eat raspberries and go fishing.
Rafting routes on the Yuryuzan River
To go rafting on the Yuryuzan River, it is better to start the route from Ust-Katav. Not far from it is a bridge, from which tourists depart on catamarans.
At the beginning of the journey, the river is not wide, only 25-30 m, but the current is quite fast, so it is better for beginners to raft with an instructor.
Conventionally, the rafting is divided into two routes:
- Small alloy is two transitions. The length of the first 17 km waterway to the village of Kachkari. There is convenient parking in front of it. The second transition to the village of Idrisovo is 13 km through picturesque places. The attraction of this route is the Balcony Cave, the site of an ancient tribe.
- The long-distance tourist rafting consists of 3 crossings, which include the way to Kachkari, Idrisovo and the third transition of 18 km to Medvezhy Ugol. This route includes visiting not only the Idris cave, but also climbing the Limonovsky ridge, an excursion to the famous Salavat caves and the Kurgazak hot spring.
If you wish, you can stop at the numerous islands that the Yuryuzan River is rich in. The route includes fishing, fish soup and picking berries.
Fishing on the Yuryuzan River
Someone likes to pick berries and mushrooms while camping, someone likes to fish. For a fisherman, the Yuryuzan River, where fishing is a real pleasure, is also good memories for life. Among the fish found in abundance in the river are grayling, chub, dace, perch, pike, chebak, zander, burbot, gudgeon and many other species.
Since the Yuryuzan changes its shape from a mountain river to a flat one, the fish in different areas also changes. For fishermenit's a real pleasure to be able to catch such different species in one or two days.
Family Vacation
The advantage of rafting on Yuryuzan is that children from 5 years old accompanied by their parents and from 14 years old on their own can take part in it.
This is a truly family-friendly, safe type of water tourism, during which each participant, regardless of age, will receive:
- communication with virgin nature;
- excitement while fishing or picking blueberries, strawberries and mushrooms;
- animal lovers can watch beavers and listen to howls of wolves;
- those who love mysteries and ancient monuments will be happy to admire the cave paintings of cavemen;
- those who want to improve their he alth can dive into the thermal spring.
The uniqueness of the Yuryuzan River is that it provides an opportunity for everyone to plunge into virgin nature and feel at home with it without risk to he alth.
