Bolshoy Tkhach Nature Park

The park was created by a decree of the president of the Republic of Adygea in autumn 1997 and covers 3,705 hectares; in 1999 it was included in the Western Caucasus UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. Its protection regime is strict: the rules for visitors are set out in a separate provision of the republic's cabinet of ministers. The core of the park is the Bolshoy Tkhach mountain massif on the watershed of the Malaya Laba and the Belaya, right at the border with Krasnodar Krai. It is a classic cuesta: a gentle grassy northern slope and rocky southern and western walls; the wall runs ten to twelve kilometres with height differences of one hundred to three hundred metres. The asymmetrical silhouette of the Big and Small Tkhach is visible from many points of the Western Caucasus. In Adyghe the toponym is rendered as 'god's land'; locals, however, long called the mountains the Big and Small Bald ones. Routes: on the Adygean side the nearest settlement is the village of Novoprokhladnoye, from which forest roads and trails lead to the foot of the cuesta. The views of the wall are best at dawn, when the cliffs catch the first light.