The village of Stepnoye Lake in the Altai Territory is located in the center of the Blagoveshchensky District. This place is one of 29 similar villages in the region. In 1984, he was given the status of an urban-type settlement.
General information
The history of the village of Stepnoe Lake dates back to 1960, that's when it was founded. Previously, the village was called Khimdym, Khimik, Stroygaz.
The area occupied by the village is 3.7 square meters. km. The current population is 6,319. Local residents are called “steppe lakers” and “steppe lakers.”
The time difference with Moscow at Stepnoye Lake is plus 4 hours.
The climate of these lands is temperate continental.
Attractions
The most famous attraction of these places is Kuchuk Lake. This is what gave the village its name. This is a fairly large body of water, 12 km wide and 19 km long.
The waters of this lake are saturated with various s alts,having a beneficial effect on the human body. No less useful is the black mud, which is mined from the bottom. It is noteworthy that an arthropod, the crustacean Artemia salina, is involved in the creation of the mud. This crustacean is able to live exclusively in highly saline waters, and in fresh water it dies within an hour. The crustacean feeds on algae. And the water of the lake, due to the presence of this crustacean in it, becomes pinkish.
The depth of the lake is very small - about 3 meters. Thanks to this feature, in summer the lake is able to warm up well, which attracts many swimmers. However, it should be borne in mind that s alt water must be washed off after bathing.
It is also interesting that due to the large volume of s alts, the reservoir does not freeze in winter. Therefore, you can freely admire its beauties.
The local sanatorium uses the water and mud of this reservoir to treat its patients.
The city-forming enterprise of the village is Kuchuksulfat JSC. This is a chemical plant producing naturally occurring sodium sulfate. Formed in 1992. The plant currently employs 1,210 people.
In addition to sodium sulfate, the company's products are detergents, fish feed.
A narrow-gauge railway was built for the needs of the plant. Its length is 10 km. The narrow-gauge railway carries out heavy traffic of freight trains. Partially, the road goes through the dried-up S altpeter Lake, from the bottom of which s alts are actively mined.
Besides, inthe village is:
- medical college;
- middle school;
- construction college;
- house of culture;
- pool;
- various gyms;
- kindergartens;
- radio and television center.
In 2011, a hockey team was formed in the Stepnoe Lake of the Blagoveshchensk region. They called her "Chemist".
How to get there?
Stepnoye Lake is located 6 km from the nearest regional center, 271 km from Barnaul. From Moscow, the distance will be 2,860 km.
If you go by car from Barnaul, the route will be as follows: Pavlovsk - Bukanskoye - Romanovo - Zavyalovo - Lenki - Blagoveshchenka, and then about 10 km to the required point. If you get from Blagoveshchenka by public transport, then a regular bus runs from here quite often.
