Overview of the Karalar Natural Park in Crimea

Travel is the pursuit of endorphins, new impressions and inspiration. There is a saying: “When you go out for a walk, you go to it by one person, and you come a little differently.” What to say about the full travel, which sometimes is the best way to reboot. And it is not always necessary to go to places with a high influx of tourists and a top line in the ranking of the most popular places to travel.

There are such areas, zones, territories, about which many have never heard, but once there, they fall in love with them with their whole soul. And this definition perfectly describes the Karalar Natural Park.

To get to the regional landscape park, you need to come to the north of the Kerch Peninsula, in the eastern part of the Crimea. The reserve is located near the old Kerch, and if you really rest there or come to the city for “event-based” tourism, find an opportunity to visit the reserve too. Getting there by car from Kerch is very easy and convenient. Organized excursions to this place are not provided, but it is rather a plus than a minus.

Karalarsky Park is a good nature reserve for single or family trips. Many people go there to be alone with their thoughts, to make a psychological restart. The territory is the best suited for this - landscapes are calm, lyrical, cinematic. Payments for visiting the park will not be charged. Apparently, until the centralized excursions are organized, it will not be.

Meanwhile, even if we assume that the place can be visited by bus, there will be little point in this, and half of the beauty of the reserve simply cannot be seen. Because the car - the only good option. You can, of course, by public transport, a taxi to get to the village of Resort, but then only on foot. But not everyone can walk, because it’s 21 km stretching along the coast.

Advance route on the navigator, google map. By the way, when you increase the scale of the map you will see a kind of announcement of the future journey - it’s hard not to notice how many bays includes the Karalarsky park.

It does not fit in the head, but for several decades the territory of the current reserve was a proving ground for military trials. For 50 years in these most beautiful, unique places, testing took place weapons of wide destruction. Almost immediately after World War II, a proving ground was formed and the entire arms race existed. But there is no need to be afraid: there were no explosions here, in fact, the proving ground belonged to the Bagerovsky military airfield, and there, according to available information, they were engaged in degassing and deactivating aircraft.

However, terrible things did not pass the natural park. The airfield was closed in the early 70s, while the landfill became a nuclear burial ground, where radiation contaminated equipment and equipment were buried (and in addition, another 6,000 tons of soil contaminated with harmful substances). And only in 1998, local authorities realized a mistake: the unique nature was finally appreciated and the territory of 5900 hectares was allocated, which became the base of the reserve zone.

It became a regional landscape complex in 2007, at the same time it expanded by another 900 hectares. For the fourth year, the Karalarsky Park is considered a protected reserve of regional importance.

In addition to the land area, the reserve also includes 360 hectares of the Azov water area. The structure of the reserve includes almost the entire northern part of the Kerch Peninsula. The place is not just picturesque: the hills, the plains, the rocks, the quarries, the rivers, the lakes, and the most beautiful beaches make up one common natural area.

Not without historical objects: for example, the remains of ancient people’s settlements (Bronze Age) are part of the natural landmark. Of course, to someone they seem no more than a pile of stones, but an educated and knowledgeable person can give a real assessment of these stones.

In the north-west, the reserve is washed by the waters of the Sea of ​​Azov, its coast has a rocky structure - not the hottest ledges, deep cliffs and sharp peaks. Rock formations seem to be riddled with grottoes, old quarries. Deep into the Kerch Peninsula leaves the steppe, which shocks the traveler’s glance, especially in the spring. This season it can boast of impressive vegetation, rare types of flowers.

In the east of the reserve you will see Lake Chokrak, that is distant from the Sea of ​​Azov by a narrow embankment. The lake is one of the largest water bodies of its type in the Crimea. Further - Osovinsky steppe array, a place of solitude, very conducive to philosophizing, rethinking their lives. Some tourists compare it with the edge of the world: so the steppe seems mysteriously lifeless.

In the south of the park - large-scale artesian tract. And all this diversity in one territory. Fans of the so-called civilized recreation with beaches, attractions and other places of entertainment filled with lovers of sunburns are unlikely to enjoy the lonely eternally visible desert of the Karalar Natural Park. But this place, figuratively speaking, is not for “broad, but for a deep audience.”

Fine, if you manage to be here in the spring. In the summer, the steppe is dusty, gray, it seems to have dried out from the ruthless sun. Spring is another thing. In the season of awakening, everything here blooms and smells sweet. Here you can see rare birds listed in the Red Book. And the flowers here are not scarce in their diversity. Why are only the famous Crimean tulips, like you will not find anywhere else!

This is what attracts the tourist in the first place. Yes, it is difficult to forget the pink flowering ripples surrounding Lake Chokrak. This is a salt, a plant accustomed to live on the shores of salt lakes and seas. But nevertheless, the desert coastlines, which are lined up in some kind of endless, sad and grandiose broken line, will probably still dream about you. Behind Lake Chokrak, the road climbs onto a plateau, along which you can move along the coast. Very beautiful landscapes open already behind the first bend in the road.

Interestingly, initially planning a route from the map, the navigator, you will learn that the road along the route takes only an hour. But at one o'clock you will definitely not get along! You will definitely want to stand there, take a photo here, sit here, and in that place collect a full bag of shells, of which there are billions.

Each bay opening to your look is beautiful in its own way. And what are their names: Fox, Pontoon, Lilac, Shelkovichny, Lady, Monkey. But the most famous bays of the territory of the park are General and Broad.

One of the most interesting is the Bay of the Lady. She is the bay of Nefertiti, she is the rock of the Virgin. From a distance, the rock resembles a girlish silhouette. Someone sees Assol, who is waiting for her prince, someone is a sad widow who has lost her beloved in the depths of the sea, someone is a lonely wanderer. You can come up with your own version: the place has to creative thinking and romanticization of what he saw.

Theoretically, you can go down to some bays by car, but leaving will not be easy. Therefore it is better to walk. There are gazebos on the territory of individual bays.I want to sit in them with thermoses and delicious pastries, but squally wind can disrupt your plans.

When there seems to be no end to beaches and coves, as well as your immersion in yourself and dialogue with nature, signs of civilization begin to be seen. Navigator will show that after passing a large area, you are getting to the village of Zolotoe. And it corresponds to its name, especially if the weather goes up to it - golden sand, sunlight poured along the coast, is quickly replaced by a bit gloomy ascetic beaches.

Indeed, one can hear such a definition from tourists. It is probably worth explaining this hypnotic self-sufficiency of the place - not disturbed today by human activity, noise, bustle of the territory, general detachment with internal orderliness, the domination of the elements, and not the "crown of nature." Someone compared the ralar park with the best of the proposed psychotherapy tools.

Even if you visit this place you are a small company, the impression will arise that nature is talking personally with you. People even advise to come here in periods of reflection, making responsible decisions. They refer to the fact that certain gravitational forces, the forces of the elements have a good influence on the intuition of a person, and he chooses the right decision. You should definitely visit the Karalar Park for those who:

• loves traveling with a sense of privacy, a silent conversation with nature;
• loves the rapid turnover of natural objects - the lake, the sea, the steppe, the bay;
• loves to walk along the romantic coasts, blown by the sea wind, rustling shells under their feet;
• I have long wanted to admire the steppe vegetation.

Video review of the Karalar Natural Park from the air, see the following video.