Cherek Canyon

Cherek Canyon is a scenic gorge of the Cherek-Balkarsky River in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, with the A-154 highway running along its floor toward Upper Balkaria and the Blue Lakes (which lie further upstream on the same river, about 30 km from Nalchik — source: Wikipedia, article "Blue Lakes (Kabardino-Balkaria)").

Until the late 19th century, travelling through this gorge was difficult: the mountain track was so narrow that two travellers could barely pass each other, and riders had to lead their horses by hand. In 1883, local residents began building the Balkar public wagon road to link the villages of Kashkhatau and Cheget-El. The road was built entirely by hand, and the work took ten years to complete.

Today, a surviving stretch of that old road can be walked on foot, with views of the surrounding mountains, while the modern highway passes through tunnels cut into the canyon's rock.