Caucasus Nature Reserve

The Caucasus Nature Reserve is in Krasnodar Krai, Adygea and Karachay-Cherkessia of Russia.

View at Psekhako Ridge

The Caucasus Nature Reserve is a biodiversity treasure and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the second-largest protected area of Europe and the largest in Caucasus mountains of Russia. It includes the mountain ridges of Krasnodar Krai, Adygea and Karachay-Cherkessia, as well as part of the Greater Sochi metropolitan area (Khosta district and Krasnaya Polyana), bordering Sochi National Park.

A horse is dwarfed by Chugush Peak, in the background

Two exclave parts of the reserve – those are located inside Greater Sochi – are easy to visit: Yew and Boxtree Wood at Khosta, and the wild animal nursery at Krasnaya Polyana. Other parts are not so easy; see below.

To visit other parts of the reserve, you need to get special permit, requiring the following:

• list of participants,
• passport details and passport copies of each participant,
• name of the group's leader,
• planned route/itinerary,
• period of stay (number of days),
• entrance fee.

In Sochi you can get the permit at the reserve's headquarter: Karl Marx street, 8, room 10, Adler district, Sochi.