Streletskaya Steppe

Streletskaya Steppe is the largest of six sectors of the Central Black Earth State Reserve named for Professor V. V. Alekhin. The 2,046 ha site lies 10 km south of Kursk in a belt nearly 8 km long. Virgin meadow steppe and forest-steppe survive here — “a land of living fossils”, as botanist Boris Kozo-Polyansky called it. Steppe plots hold feather grass, fescue and Red Book species of Kursk Oblast. Wooded sites include Dubroshina, Solovyatnik, Dedov Vesyoliy and the large Zorin Forest (~500 ha). Headquarters are in Zapovedny settlement with a Nature Museum and Eco-Information Centre. Marked trails include “Streletskaya Steppe” and “Reserve Oak Grove”. Access is regulated: steppe is easily trampled. Tours and self-guided routes require reserve approval. Come prepared for field walking, not a city park stroll. Streletskaya Steppe and Reserve Oak Grove are two different routes: open sun and feather grass versus shade under old oaks. Pick one per visit; combining both in a day needs two trail approvals and water for both landscapes.