Aulgan Gorge

Aulgan Gorge, also known as Akry-Sagyl Gorge (Аулганское ущелье), is a rocky mountain valley of the Aulgan stream in Gaysky Urban Okrug, Orenburg Oblast. The gorge begins half a kilometre east of the village of Ishkinino and stretches for more than a kilometre. It is a landscape and geomorphological natural monument covering 47.9 hectares, one of the examples of eroded low mountains in this part of the Orenburg region.

What to see

The Aulgan stream runs along the floor of a narrow valley and joins the Sukhaya Guberlya River from the left near Ishkinino. The slopes of the gorge are steep, in places almost sheer, with rock outcrops. The stream's floodplain is narrow and overgrown with alder and shrubs.

Different parts of the gorge are built of different rocks. The slopes near the mouth are made of serpentinite. On the right slope you can see rocks that piled up around the vent of the Ishkinino volcano, which went extinct back in the Devonian period. In the upper part of the gorge, siliceous rocks of the Lower and Middle Devonian come to the surface. They are hard and split into sharp blocks, so the cliffs here are angular and the slopes very steep.

Another natural monument, the Aktash reef, lies 2 km east of Ishkinino.

Nature

Petrophytes, plants of rocks and scree, grow on the stony slopes, while the floodplain has grasses and shrubs of moderately moist places. In spring the slopes are covered with blooming Bieberstein's tulips and adonis, and wild garlic can be found.

The gorge is home to the fox, badger, steppe pika, stoat and steppe polecat. The lesser kestrel, wood pigeon, the grey partridge and many small songbirds nest here.

How to get there

The gorge is next to the village of Ishkinino. Take the Akyar – Orsk highway to the town of Gay and turn right there. About 15 km after the turn, near Ishkinino, the gorge begins. The way there is by car.

Coordinates for navigation: 51.46100, 58.29771.

Good to know

• The best time for a visit is spring, when the tulips bloom.
• The cliffs look most striking in the light before sunset.
• Aulgan Gorge and the Guberlya Mountains are different places, though they are sometimes confused.