Mount Camel (Shiryaevo)

Mount Camel (Gora Verblyud) is a rocky peak of the Zhiguli Mountains near the village of Shiryaevo in the Volzhsky District of Samara Oblast, Russia. It rises in the Kozyi Rozhki (Goat Horns) tract within Samarskaya Luka National Park and is named after the outline of its cliff, which resembles a camel's head. The mountain is known for its viewpoint over the Volga and for the old adits where limestone was mined.

History of the adits

The mountain is made of limestone and dolomite. Limestone mining began here in 1879: at first the stone was broken by hand, later by drilling and blasting. In Soviet times the workings belonged to the Zhiguli group of lime works. From the 1940s prisoners and prisoners of war worked in the quarries and adits. Mining stopped in 1965.

Underground galleries, traces of rail tracks and the remains of wheelbarrows are left from those years.

What to see

• The viewpoint on the summit. It overlooks the Volga, the Zhiguli Gates, the mouth of the Sok River, Tsarev Kurgan and the Sokoli Mountains.
• The adits on the slope. The ledge with their entrances lies about 60 metres above the Volga. The galleries run up to 100 metres into the mountain with ceilings up to 5 metres high, held up by pillars of rock 3–5 metres across that were left during mining.
• Bats. The adits of the Zhiguli Mountains are one of the largest bat hibernation sites in European Russia; by estimates, more than 30,000 animals gather here. Shiryaevo itself has a Bat Museum information centre.

Climbers train on the cliffs of Mount Camel, and cavers explore the adits.

The legend of Hans

One of the adits holds the so-called Hans's grave: a pile of stones with boots sticking out of it. According to local legend, Hans was a German prisoner of war who worked in the quarries here. His ghost is said to appear to those who disturb the peace of the mountain. Nothing confirms the story, and the "grave" is symbolic.

Getting there

A paved road leads to Shiryaevo: about 75 km from Tolyatti and about 145 km from Samara. From the village you can walk or cycle to the foot of the mountain, and a car can also get there. From the foot, trails climb the slope to the adits and the summit.

Good to know

The mountain lies in Samarskaya Luka National Park, and the park's visiting rules apply. The adits are abandoned mine workings: it is dark and damp inside, so bring a torch. Bats are not to be disturbed in winter.