Vorgol River

The Vorgol is a left tributary of the Bystraya Sosna, 64 kilometres long, flowing in a narrow canyon-like valley 40–45 metres deep with steep limestone slopes. As early as the 19th century Mikhail Stakhovich compared the Vorgol valley to Saxon Switzerland — no exaggeration for flatland Russia. Above the river rise the Zvonari, Kopchyony Kamen, Vorgol Rocks and Voronov Kamen massifs; two of them are protected sections of the Galichya Gora reserve. The slopes carry steppe and mountain vegetation with the relic Podolian shivereckia, and on the bank lies the medieval settlement of Ryabinki 2 of the 11th–14th centuries. The river starts near Izmailkovo and joins the Bystraya Sosna opposite the village of Voronets; the villages of Nizhny Vorgol and Grunin Vorgol stand along the water. For a weekend walk, the canyon below Nizhny Vorgol is the most accessible 'mountain' spot of the Black Earth region.