Srezannaya Sopka

Srezannaya Sopka (literally "Cut-off Hill") is a low hill with a gentle, overgrown top in Amur Oblast, in the Blagoveshchensk urban okrug, near the Belogorye railway station and the Mokhovaya Pad tract. It is one of a chain of low hills between Mokhovaya Pad and Belogorye, off the main roads but reachable on an easy outing from Blagoveshchensk.

History

The hill got its name from an old sand quarry: sand was once mined here, and after the pit was worked out the hillside came to look "cut off" — unusually flat and steep compared with the gently rounded hills around it. The quarry was eventually abandoned, and the slopes have grown back over with grass and shrubs, so the old "cut" can now be made out only in the hill's overall silhouette.

What to see

From the top there is a view over the neighboring chain of hills and the meadow valley between Mokhovaya Pad and Belogorye. The hill itself is low and gentle, so reaching the top needs no special preparation, and from the summit it is easy to see how flat the old quarry slope still is against the softer outlines of the hills next to it.

Nature

In summer the meadows around the hill bloom with Amur poppies — according to local residents, this is one of the few spots in the area where they grow in such numbers. The hill and its neighbors are covered with grass and shrubs, surrounded by open meadows that make for an easy walk and good photographs while the poppies are in bloom.

Legends and stories

Near the hill, on the side of a cemetery, local residents say there is a large concrete structure and a platform resembling an army parade ground. In local talk it is linked to a former missile forces unit, though there is no documented confirmation of this — it is passed on as local lore rather than an established fact.

Getting there

The route starts in Blagoveshchensk: head toward the Belogorye railway station and the Mokhovaya Pad tract, where Srezannaya Sopka stands among the low hills. The road runs along dirt tracks through the meadows, so in wet weather it is worth planning on an off-road vehicle or walking the last stretch from the nearest point reachable by an ordinary car.