Mount Verblyuzhka

Mount Verblyuzhka is a landscape and geological-geomorphological nature monument in the Belyaevsky district of Orenburg Region, near the village of Donskoye, about 130 kilometres from Orenburg. The three-peaked remnant hill rises above the Ural river valley: its absolute height is 329.4 metres, and its height above the river itself is 198.4 metres. It is the southernmost summit of the Karamuruntau ridge, which locals also call the Dolgiye Gory (Long Mountains).

Where the name comes from

The mountain got its Russian name, Verblyuzhka ("little camel"), from its shape: from a distance its three peaks look like a camel's humps. It also has a Bashkir name, Dyuyatash, which translates as "camel stone." The ridge Verblyuzhka belongs to is called Karamuruntau by the Turkic-speaking population, meaning "Black Nose mountain"; its northern part is known as the Nagaiskiye Gory, and its southern part, with Verblyuzhka at the far end, as the Dolgiye Gory.

Geology and nature

The mountain is built of Permian limestones folded into steep ridges by erosion and tectonic movement; geologist Alexander Karpinsky described the Sakmarian-stage section exposed on the Dolgiye Gory as early as 1874. The rock contains fossils — shells of ancient molluscs and remains of bryozoans and sea lilies. Another nature monument, the Donskoy Oak Grove, adjoins Verblyuzhka on its south-eastern side, and the summit offers a view over the Dolgiye Gory ridge and the Ural floodplain. In spring the surrounding slopes bloom with iris, Bieberstein's tulip and the pasque flower, and the area is home to steppe eagles, ground squirrels, marmots, badgers and roe deer.

Getting there

The mountain can be reached by car or by a scheduled bus along the Orenburg–Orsk highway, getting off at the 135th kilometre, near the village of Donskoye. The Orenburg–Kuvandyk–Mednogorsk bus runs daily from 10:00 to 18:00. From the bus stop it is a 5.5-kilometre walk west along the highway to the foot of the mountain, and the climb to the summit takes about five minutes more. Near the road there is a parking area, a small footbridge over a stream and a bench.

Good to know

The land around the mountain is privately owned; the owner lives at its foot, and visitors are expected to ask permission before going up. Driving across the fields and slopes is not allowed — the summit is reached on foot only.