Hiking in Pyatigorsk

We leave the hotel at 8:30 a.m. and an hour later we arrive at the southwestern outskirts of the village of Etoka. You have to walk about 1.5 km before the start of the climb.

We climb to the top — about 400 meters vertically — along paths or grassy slopes. The ascent takes 1.5-2 hours.

The descent to the cars takes about an hour.

Transfer to the village of Yutsa, to climb the peak of the same name.

Yutsa (Jutsa 1st), 973 m. The entrance through the village of Yutsa to the airfield, where paragliding athletes are based, train and fly from.

From here, the hike to the top of Mount Yutsa begins — about 200 meters vertically, which takes about 1.5 hours.

In winter, when the road is covered with snow or ice, the pedestrian part starts slightly lower and extends the time to climb to the top by 1.5-2 hours.

The descent to the cars takes about an hour.

We leave the hotel at 8:30-9:00.

A short 20-minute walk to the famous Pyatigorsk Sinkhole.

Then a 1.5-kilometer walk (transfer) to the Aeolian Harp and climb the Bernardazzi trail towards the top of Mount Mashuk. The distance from the Aeolian Harp to the top of the mountain is about 1.5 km, the elevation difference on the route reaches 400 m.

The trail runs along the edge of the forest, and then through an open space that turns into a subalpine meadow closer to the top. Russian grave of the Russian military topographer and mountaineer A.V. Pastukhov is located on the trail.

From the monument there are one hundred steps up to the top station of the cable car and the TV tower.

After bypassing the territory of the TV tower, we descend the steps, and then follow the path of the western slope, which in 30-40 minutes leads to the "Glade of Songs". The journey is about 1.8 km long and takes about 40 minutes.

Then there is a 10—minute descent along an asphalt footpath from the lower part of the Clearing to the place of the duel of M. Y. Lermontov, where we get into the car and return to the hotel.

Departure from the hotel at 8:30 a.m., an hour later we arrive at the ring road (826 m above sea level), which runs around Mount Beshtau, the highest point of Kavminvod with a drop of about 700 meters from the paved road.

Then the pedestrian part of the ascent begins. We are walking along a trail prepared in the early twentieth century by activists of the Caucasian Mining Society, in some places along an old dirt road.

We reach the pass between the Main peak of Beshtau and the Goat Rocks.

Next, we climb the path bypassing (on the left in the direction of travel) the Yeseninsky rock. In some places, the slope steepness reaches 40 degrees. The ascent from the pass to the exit to the eastern ridge of the Main Peak takes about 1.5 hours.

At the exit point is the "Temple of the Sun", a popular tourist attraction. We walk another 15-20 minutes to the west and reach the technological fence at the top.

On average, climbing Beshtau takes 3.5-4 hours.

There are several descent options from the top of Beshtau, such as:

1. On the way up.
2. Follow a well-trodden trail, a 20-minute descent to the saddle towards the top of Maly Tau. From the saddle, we climb about 150 meters to the top. Then we go down the trail in a north-westerly direction. We are approaching the well-visible rock massif "Eagle rocks". From the lower edge of the cliffs we go out through the ring road to the cars that are waiting in the parking lot of the guest house "Eagle Rocks", Lermontov.
3. Along the path of the southern ridge in the direction of the Assumption of the Second Athos Beshtaugorsky monastery.

All descent options take about 1.5 hours.

Departure from the hotel at 8:30.

The road to the village of Tambukan, which lies at the foot of the Golden Kurgan Mountain, takes about an hour.

The mountain has the shape of an asymmetrical dome with a cone-shaped peak crowning a slightly hilly plateau with a height of 600-700 m.

The start is a kilometer from the western outskirts of the village of Tambukan at the intersection of roads on the north-western slope. The cars come as close as possible to the domed top.

A walking climb with a vertical drop of about 250 meters takes 1.5-2 hours. The peak is an excellent panoramic point, which overlooks 10 peaks of the KMV.

The descent from the top to the cars takes about 40 minutes.

Transfer to the airport or railway station.

The recommended departure time is after 19:00.