Kamyshlinskaya Cave

Kamyshlinskaya Cave lies in the Shebalino District of the Altai Republic, on the Kamyshla plateau, next to the Kamyshla Waterfall — about 60 kilometers from Gorno-Altaysk. The cave is part of the Kamyshla karst area, which holds several of the Altai's best-known caves.

What to see

The cave, sometimes referred to in the literature as Kamyshlinskaya-2, is about 38 meters deep with roughly 180 meters of passages. The route through it is rated difficulty category 2A: the cave is watered and mostly vertical, so rope technique and gear for descending the shafts are needed to get through it. Within a few hundred meters, inside the same karst area on the Kamyshla plateau, lie other caves, among them the Ekologicheskaya Cave.

History

The Kamyshla karst area has long drawn speleologists from the Altai: the karst on the plateau has formed a whole group of cavities of varying difficulty. It is home to the Altaiskaya Cave, the longest cave in the Altai at 4175 meters, discovered in 1978. The area is also known for the Ekologicheskaya and Geofizicheskaya caves. Research into the karst area continues today: speleologists periodically update the caves' descriptions and surveys, and the findings are published in regional speleological journals.

Good to know

Kamyshlinskaya Cave is a sporting cave: descending it without gear or experience is unsafe because of its vertical sections and the water inside. A visit is usually combined with a look at the nearby Kamyshla Waterfall, reached by a well-trodden footpath.

Legend

A local legend is tied to the nearby Kamyshla Waterfall, by which the cave stands: the tragic love story of a warrior named Kamysh and La, the daughter of a tribal chief. According to the legend, the Kamyshla River, which flows into the Katun at this spot, is named after them.

Getting there

The cave and the Kamyshla Waterfall can be reached from Gorno-Altaysk, through the villages of Ust-Sema or Barangol. Both sites lie on the left bank of the Katun River, about 60 km from the city, at the point where the Kamyshla River flows into the Katun.