Rufabgo Falls

The Bolshoy Rufabgo stream tumbles towards the Belaya down a wooded slope, forming sixteen waterfalls and countless rapids. The lower five — from 'Three Brothers' to the 'Maiden Braid' — are linked by a fitted route: a footbridge from the road-side car park, boardwalks and steel stairs with railings above the drops. The waterfalls' names read like a trail rhyme. The 'Three Brothers' fall straight into the Belaya at the gorge edge — you can see them from the bridge. The 'Roar' is heard from afar and drops six metres into a bowl. Then come the 'Cascade', the 'Heart of Rufabgo' and the fifteen-metre 'Maiden Braid' with a plunge pool up to ten metres wide. Higher up lie the 'Rockfall', the 'Maiden Braids', the 'Cup of Love' and the 'Lelkin', while the 'Dry' and the 'Grand', at twenty and fifteen metres, already demand climbing gear. There is a free alternative too: from Kamennomostsky a marked trail runs along the left bank of the Belaya, reaching the start of the route past the Turkish Bazar site, old Circassian orchards and the Skvoznaya cave. The stream runs fullest in spring and after heavy rains; in dry summers the lower falls noticeably shrink.