Devil's Tooth Rock (Bolshiye Egusty)

Devil's Tooth Rock, also known as Chertovo Gorodishche (Devil's Settlement), is a granite outcrop on top of a wooded hill behind the village of Bolshiye Egusty in the Kyshtym urban district of Chelyabinsk Oblast, not far from the settlement of Slyudorudnik. The rocky ridge, about 25 metres high and about 100 metres long, is part of the "Kyshtym Twenty", a list of the main sights around Kyshtym.

Description

The outcrop is made of granite gneiss. Its jagged silhouette, which resembles a giant tooth, gave the rock its name; locals also call it the Devil's Finger. The core of the massif is a monolithic stone column split by a vertical crack. On the north side the rock drops in a sheer wall, while from the south you can climb onto the main massif without special equipment.

The hill is covered with mixed, mostly birch forest. The top of the rock offers a wide view over the surrounding forests and hills, at its best in autumn when the birches turn yellow.

The Kyshtym Devil's Tooth should not be confused with the better-known Chertovo Gorodishche near Yekaterinburg: they are different rocks in different regions.

Legends

As with many rock outcrops in the Urals, people say that sacrifices were once made on the Devil's Tooth. There is no evidence for this, and the story remains a legend.

Getting there

The way to the rock runs through Kyshtym towards Slyudorudnik and Bolshiye Egusty. From Bolshiye Egusty it is about 2.5 kilometres: first along a forest road, then from a fork west along a footpath for roughly a kilometre to the rock. From Yekaterinburg, take the Chelyabinsk highway, turn off towards Tyubuk onto the Kasli highway and continue through Kyshtym to Slyudorudnik.

Good to know

The climb is easy and needs no equipment, but keep clear of the edge of the northern cliff. In winter the stones under the snow can be icy, so take care on the rocks.