Rufabgo Waterfalls

Rufabgo Waterfalls are a cascade of about fifteen waterfalls in the gorge of the Rufabgo River, a tributary of the Belaya River, in the Maykopsky District of the Republic of Adygea. The gorge lies near the village of Kamennomostsky, on the approach to the Lago-Naki plateau. The Rufabgo River rises on the northern slopes of the Azish-Tau ridge, and on its way to the Belaya it drops a total of 404 meters.

Nature and history of the gorge

Over millions of years the river has eroded soft rock and cut a canyon up to 160 meters deep; geologists estimate the canyon's age at about 130 million years. Dolmens, believed to have been built more than four thousand years ago, survive in the area around the gorge.

The legend of the giant Rufabgo

According to legend, an evil giant named Rufabgo once lived in the Belaya river valley and abducted people. When the giant's heart struck the walls of the gorge, it turned into a huge oval boulder that blocked the mountain stream. The boulder can still be seen in the riverbed today — the waterfall that falls around it is called "Rufabgo's Heart."

What to see

The trail along the gorge passes about fifteen waterfalls. The first, "Three Brothers" (also called "Zero"), greets visitors at an elevation of 425 meters above sea level. 250 meters from the bridge over the Belaya roars the "Shum" ("Noise") waterfall, about 6 meters high, fronted by the "Adyghe Farmstead" ethnographic exhibit. Further along the trail is the multi-tiered "Kaskadny" ("Cascade") waterfall with a small pool at its foot, the roughly 5-meter "Bowl of Love," one of the gorge's tallest waterfalls, "Maiden's Braid," at about 15 meters, "Grandiozny" ("Grand") at an elevation of 829 meters, "Sukhoy" ("Dry") up to 20 meters high, and "Gluboky" ("Deep") with a plunge pool about 3 meters deep. Smaller waterfalls along the way include "Kamnepad" ("Rockfall") and "Malysh" ("Baby").

The easiest way to see the gorge is the paid route: it begins just past the entrance to the nature monument, right after "Three Brothers," and leads a kilometer to five waterfalls. It has equipped viewpoints and signage and paid parking; admission costs about 600 rubles for adults and 300 rubles for children aged 7 to 14, free for children under 7. A longer, free, roughly 6-kilometer route starts at the Khadzhokh Gorge near the village of Kamennomostsky.

Getting there

Buses run to the village of Kamennomostsky from Krasnodar and Maykop, and the village is also reachable by car. From the village, the waterfalls are reached on foot or by taxi.