GPS g. 45.104846,34.624079 (format used in online maps)
GPS g.m. 45°6.907", 34°37.444" (format used in navigators and geocaching)
GPS g.m.s. 45°6"17.45", 34°37"26.68"
The White Rock (Ak Kaya) is a hundred-meter steep wall of limestone origin, like the rest of Crimea. The rock, clearly visible from the southern directions, gave its name to Belogorsk, becoming its landmark as a monument of nature, archeology and history.
Monument of nature, archeology and history
On the northern slopes of Ak-Kai, four sites of primitive man of the Mousterian era were discovered, a Neanderthal skull was found, proving that civilization arose not only in Europe. It was not so bad to live there - water, black soil on which something tasty grew, many grottoes and caves in which you could hide from animals and bad weather. And the high cliff made it possible to practice driven hunting - the remains of a mammoth, saiga, cave bear, giant and red deer, primitive bull, wild horse, and onager were found around.
Caves in White Rock
There are many legends about the caves and grottoes in the White Wall. In the Golden Hole cave, the entrance to which is located 52 meters from the base and 49 meters from the edge of the cliff, there used to be a dragon who kidnapped beauties from all over the area. And the robbers kept their gold there, which gave it its name.
They also said that this cave lasts all the way to Feodosia, but only climbers in 1960 were able to verify this. As it turned out, this is not a cave, but a high grotto, where the rays of the sun never reach, which is why it seems so bottomlessly black.
According to the fourth legend, the sea once flooded around the White Rock, and even somewhere on the rock you can find iron rings for mooring ships. Well, in the place of Crimea there was not a sea - the Tethys Ocean, only there were no people then, and on the young Earth there was only one continent - Pangea.
The closer you get to the rock, the more majestic it seems, these rocks are millions of years old and they are made of billions of shells of ancient mollusks, as small relative to you as you now appear in front of this rock.
And in 1783, Prince Potemkin took the oath of the upper classes of the Crimean Khanate, ending the centuries-long struggle of the Russian Empire for Crimea.
Be that as it may, the rock is simply very beautiful. You can drive up to it from Belogorsk, knowing the coordinates, you can climb the embankment to the right of the two main grottoes, there is even the possibility of driving in a non-wheel drive along the road with the coordinates. 45 07.272; 34 36.265.
To the left of the rock is Red Balka, a cold gorge. It got its name from the huge number of red wild peonies that bloom here in late April - early May. In general, the place is worth a visit, and along the way you can hug a centuries-old
In the Middle Ages, the White Rock became a place of execution - they liked to throw off prisoners from it, who before death could contemplate all the beauty of the nearby lands. It's not the best consolation, but people have always been cruel. This is how they blackmailed Bogdan Khmelnitsky, hinting that they could hurry up with the ransom of the prisoners.
Even if you don’t have time to go upstairs, at least visit the lower cave - its atmosphere evokes thoughts of an ancient sanctuary. It's light and dry, the entrance is comfortably shaded by a tree, and the view would probably be the envy of any view from the window.
One of the most interesting natural attractions of Crimea is the White Rock near Belogorsk. It is clearly visible from the Kerch-Simferopol highway, but we advise everyone - take the time, turn towards it, admire it closer!
April-May is the best time for an excursion to the White Rock (Ak-Kaya, Turkic). In the spring, its rather modest vegetation has not yet withered in the sun, and most importantly, Voronets bloom in Krasnaya Balka - amazingly beautiful wild peonies.
White Rock - a miracle of Central Crimea
We arrived at Belogorsk at 8 o'clock, when the rock was still in a light morning haze, so we decided to start exploring the surrounding sights with a visit to the Suvorov Oak. The highway all the way from and partly to Belogorsk now resembles a huge construction site - the Tavrida highway, bridges across rivers, and a canal are being built:
Crimea has not seen anything like this for a long time.
Suvorov Oak and Biyuk-Karasu
The 800-year-old oak itself is simply amazing (diameter 4 m, circumference 10 m, crown 40 m), you feel like an ant next to it:
This is not only a botanical, but also a historical monument - under it is our famous commander A.V. Suvorov in 1777 accepted capitulation from the envoys of the Turkish Sultan. This happened after a 10,000-strong Russian army defeated a 40,000-strong Turkish army not far from this place.
From the oak tree we went to the rock, but crossing the bridge over the Biyuk-Karasu River, we decided to first drive up to it, it winds too beautifully in these places:
Then they turned to the rock itself, to the very place that resembles the bow of a ship. Its height above sea level is 325 meters, above the valley more than 100 meters. In Crimea there are many such cuestas - mountains, steep on one side and gentle on the other. We previously talked about an excursion to a similar one -. But White Rock is undoubtedly the most unusual.
Many probably recognized this landscape from Soviet and Russian films, of which more than a dozen were filmed here. That's why I was immediately indignant - I see Texas, but where are the cowboys on horses? Immediately, as if on my order, the horses appeared, but the unlucky “cowboy” ran screaming after.
At the foot of the White Rock, onosma bloomed - a plant listed in the Red Book with funny yellow bells:
Yellow flowers noticeably predominate in the area, especially on the arid yayla - a flat mountain top, but more on that later.
Having admired the white bulk hanging overhead, we decided to climb into the grotto. In fact, there are a lot of grottoes, caves and other depressions in the White Rock. It is not for nothing that about 40 ancient human sites were found in these places.
Grottoes Altyn Teshik, Uch-Koba and Krasnaya Balka
There are two large caves at the nose of the cliff. The first one, looking like a huge drop and inaccessible to the average tourist, is Altyn Teshik. Robbers allegedly hid a rich treasure here. Now the cave is inhabited by birds (or like in a bird market).
The second is called the Lower or Large Grotto. There is a steep but quite accessible path leading to it. At this time, her summer adonis (Adonis) and hybrid poppy were blooming (not the self-seeded one that makes the Crimean fields turn red in May, but its earlier and smaller brother).
Once upon a time, judging by the excavations, there was a sanctuary of the Sarmatians in the grotto. Now at the entrance to the grotto there is a huge hawthorn tree, just as it was blooming its first flowers.
Inside, unfortunately, everything is not so great. Too many "Neanderthals" visit it these days.
Near the grotto, mice were lying, dropped kestrels, several pairs of which were actively scurrying around, now flying away, now returning to the rock, where they were greeted by the sharp cries of the chicks.
We drove further along the mountain by car, admiring the bizarre outlines of rocks and grottoes (this group of grottoes is called Uch-Koba), and stopped at the foot of the Red Beam. It is named after the vorontsy (angustifolia peony), which covers it with a crimson-scarlet carpet for one or two weeks every spring:
We were a little late, so most of the peonies had faded and the beam looked rather modest:
But in the bushes at the foot of the yayla, spring adonis, also a rare protected plant, began to bloom.
On the plateau (yayla) of the White Rock
Another minute or two and we are on the yaila, from where an unusually beautiful view of the surrounding area opens up. That is why, although you can climb to the top by car, we advise you not to do this, but to walk along the cliff.
This walk will take an hour at most, but the impressions will last a lifetime.
The Ak-Kaya massif, composed of Paleogene and Cretaceous limestones, is part of the low but picturesque inner ridge of the Crimean Mountains, separating the Main Range.
The plant community of the plateau can be safely attributed to the type of asphodeline steppes, thanks to this plant, asphodeline, reminiscent of young pine trees:
They were just beginning to bloom, delighting the bumblebees, whose long proboscis can only reach the deeply hidden nectar:
Among the insects we also met, the Red Book Crimean swallowtail butterflies and a friendly company of large caterpillars of the ringed silkworm (or some of its relatives). Apparently they have already eaten everything where they hatched and have just marched to a new place:
We brought binoculars, so we had the opportunity to admire not only the life of insects, but also birds.
The most interesting (and beautiful) were the kestrels, which completely ignored us and flew along the rocks, from time to time teaming up with their neighbors to drive crows and crows away from their nests. There were also a lot of swifts there, but it was difficult to see the black lightning, but you could clearly hear the loud “swish” of their wings.
Here is the edge of the White Rock, resting on the sharp bow of the “ship”:
Once upon a time, the heads of the Tatar clans were elected here, here, in front of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, prisoners were thrown off a cliff in order to hasten his ransom, here in 1783, representatives of the Crimean Tatar nobility took an oath of allegiance to the Russian Empire before Prince Potemkin.
Now on the right hand you can see how the fields are turning green, the pine forest is darkening in the distance:
On the left, the following lunar landscape prevails:
By the way, it is convenient to start the excursion route along the wide path running between these hills and the White Rock, climb up along it, then go through the plateau, go down the Red Balka and return to the beginning of the route along the road along the rock. We drew it on the map.
We went back not along the cliff, but approximately in the center of the plateau and almost immediately began to stumble upon local orchids:
In general, there are many orchids in Crimea and all are protected by law; you cannot pick them.
About a 7-10 minute leisurely walk from the edge of the cliff there is a quarry where stone was once cut for neighboring settlements:
Since Karasubazar (now Belogorsk) was the trading capital of the Crimean Khanate for a long time, it required a lot of stone.
Interesting fossils found nearby:
These are nummulites (because they resemble coins), shells of single-celled organisms of the order Foraminifera. Imagine, 100 million years ago, single-celled (!) organisms built houses that resembled spiral flying saucers, the size of a silver royal ruble! By the way, the Egyptian pyramids were built from such nummulitic limestone.
With our meager knowledge of paleontology, we, alas, were unable to determine the name of this fossil; perhaps it was part of a spirifera shell.
Finally, we admired how the rock crystal found right there shimmers in the sun:
At the edge of the plateau we got a little lost, looking at the caves covering the edge of the ravine from above, found a descent, and suddenly, from the dry and almost bare steppe we found ourselves in the “jungle” - dense thickets of trees and bushes, which are carefully entwined with ivy, along the way moving onto the rocks.
There are a lot of caves, or rather grottoes, here, they are dry, cozy, it is not surprising that ancient people settled in them. Moreover, the plateau served as a convenient hunting ground - he surrounded the animal and drove it to the cliff.
Finally, after admiring the amazingly bright peonies again, we got into the car and drove on.
Ak-Kaya settlement and Kok-Koba grotto
Soon after Krasnaya Balka the rocks move apart and the road turns right towards Vishennoye. There will be a rock on the left hand:
On it is the Scythian settlement of Ak-Kaya (3rd century BC, 3rd century AD). On the plateau itself, numerous round and square holes remind of this:
Some of the buildings have been excavated a little lower (opposite you can see the Kok-Koba grotto):
The size of this settlement was second only to Scythian Naples, excavated near Simferopol, and alternately belonged to the Scythians, Romans, and Khazars. The total area of the settlement is 10 hectares, which means we still have to dig and dig, and many interesting discoveries await us. It may be possible to prove that this is the medieval fortress of Fulla, mentioned in the chronicles as standing near a “cave with a spring.”
Having examined the ancient settlement, we went to that very “cave with a source” - to the Kok-Koba grotto:
It is huge and extremely picturesque:
When we entered through a small side entrance, a herd of cows was resting there, then our company was joined by a herd of schoolchildren, much more playful and noisy:
The uniqueness of the grotto is that water oozes directly from the walls, drips from the ceiling in places, and in the center forms a waterfall of drops, collecting in a small bowl carved into the rock and flowing in a stream into a reservoir overgrown with reeds at the foot of the grotto.
All this is unusual and very beautiful.
The Kok-Koba Grotto was the last point of our journey. Through Vishennoye we went onto the highway, and after admiring the White Rock from it once again, we went home full of impressions.
Hi all! Today we will take a virtual trip, or rather a climb to the White Rock. Many residents and guests of Crimea know and have seen our beauty, but not many know how to climb the White Rock (Ak-Kaya) by car and what to see in the surrounding area. Of course, you can climb like real tourists - on foot and with backpacks.
In order not to be limited by the views from the height of the observation deck, we covered a short distance by car, climbing the White Rock just outside the village of Vishenny (link to the detailed route at the end of the article). It is there that there is a grotto with a spring, a site of primitive people and the beginning of the road leading to the southern slope.
We climbed the White Rock in October, but I would recommend postponing this idea until spring, when fruit trees bloom at the foot of the mountain range, and a fluffy carpet of wild peonies is spread on the slopes of the gully. An extraordinary spectacle!
I talked about the beginning of the route in the article, and now I will continue...
To enlarge, click on the photo.
The White Rock is quite long.
Ak-Kaya attracts filmmakers, curious tourists and...kamikazes with its appearance.
Pardon this characterization, but there are plenty of cases of unplanned suicide. According to the stories of local residents: one tourist climbed the plateau and decided to go down to the most mysterious grotto of the White Rock (in the top photo it is on the right) Altyn-Teshik using a cable attached to a car. The ending of this story turned out to be fatal.
I climbed into the cave to the left several years ago. As it turned out, the grotto with a high arch contained only a couple of trees and a thick limestone layer of earth. For people with athletic training, this climb is not difficult, although you need to descend very carefully.
Important!
The road to the plateau runs along the entire slope; you can drive any car, but after rain, there are ditches in some areas. Consider the capabilities of your transport - you can get stuck.
The plateau area is large; steppe expanses stretch for tens of kilometers. From the grotto with the source we drove unhindered 5-7 km to the observation deck on the southern slope. A group of rope jumpers stood at the very cliff. The second group was based below; it controlled the cables, pulling them at a certain angle.
From Wikipedia:
Rope jumping- an extreme sport, rope jumping from a high object using a complex shock-absorbing system of climbing ropes and equipment. There are several types of jumps: with free fall and without free fall (pendulum). During the jump, experienced jumpers often perform spectacular acrobatic tricks and elements.
This kind of free performance at White Rock can be seen quite often. The athletes themselves claim that rope jumping is absolutely safe..... I am not afraid of heights, but after what I saw, a feeling of fear still crept into my subconscious. The height of the White Rock above sea level is 325 meters.
The jump itself lasts 4-5 seconds, the falling speed is about 80-90 km per hour. In general, you won’t have time to get scared before you’re already hanging above the ground. The depth of free fall reaches 80 meters.
We were unlucky with the weather - the sky was covered with thick clouds and only a few rays of sunlight fell on the endless expanses of the steppe Crimea. When you stand on the edge of a cliff, you experience incredible emotions.
As I already said: in the spring, the northern slopes are decorated with wild peonies, and in the fall, lovers of “silent hunting” climb onto the plateau.
There is a road in the opposite direction from the observation deck, to the south. It is along this route that you can descend from the White Rock. The descent is long, you won’t even notice how you return to the sinful earth... It’s better to drive straight all the time until you reach the highway.
At the foot of the White Rock there is a club that organizes horse rides all year round, lasting 1-3 hours.
Having reached the highway, we found ourselves surrounded by Crimean forests. In October, the main decoration of Crimea is the bright mackerel bushes.
It is in the fall that the mackerel delights with its rich colors of coral and tangerine shades.
Toward the end of our walk, we decided to go into the forest to once again make sure that there were no mushrooms. Yes, sorry, it was such a lousy summer; due to the drought, you can only find boletus in the lowlands.
They have not yet become truly “promoted”, although they can offer quite a lot to an interested tourist. These include the White Rock of Ak-Kaya, Crimea in a concentrated form in some way. It has everything - rich history, exciting legends, natural beauty, geological intricacies.
Where is the facility located in Crimea?
This object has several names (Ak-Kaya means “white rock” in Tatar), including “Belogorskaya”. It is not difficult to understand its origin, since it is the nearest city and the landmark is located in its district. It rises on the shore.
Ak-Kaya on the map of Crimea
Origin of White: from the bottom of the sea
The White Rock in Crimea received its most famous name because of the rocks that compose it. The limestone and sandstone are light in color, and the entire formation actually appears white. Previously, it was a peak at the bottom of the ancient Tethys Sea, but with its disappearance it became a peak on the surface. Water and air erosion gave the steep walls a significant resemblance to the walls of a man-made structure, such as a castle or fortress. A significant amount was formed in the same way.
The rock itself and its surroundings have been inhabited since ancient times. In the 60-70s. 20th century archaeologists under the leadership of Yu.G. Kolosov discovered in its caves many bones of extinct animals and products of primitive man. The remains of the skeletons of a Neanderthal woman and a Neanderthal child were discovered. The age of these bones is estimated at 150 thousand years. Later, the Scythians lived here (there are many mounds on the surface of the rock plateau) and the Sarmatians (their tamgas, that is, family signs on the stones, were found).
In the Middle Ages, these lands were owned by a noble family of Tatars - Shirin. At the top of the cliff, the Murzas elected their leader. Sometimes it happened that medieval “revolutionaries”, noble Tatars, dissatisfied with one or another khan, held gatherings at this place. Also, the steep walls of Ak-Kai were used as a convenient place for the execution of criminals or prisoners who did not want to pay the established ransom (it is separated from the valley by 100 m).
There is information that the then very young Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who was captured after the Battle of Tsetsora in 1620, was brought to watch this procedure, so that the future hetman could quickly collect money for ransom. In 1777, A.V. set up his headquarters here. Suvorov (there was a Russian-Turkish war) and defeated the detachments of the Shirin clan. And in 1783, Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky arrived here to take the oath to the Motherland from the noble Tatars, since Crimea came under the rule of the Russian Empire.
Ak-Kaya often starred in Soviet films. She can be seen in such films as "Mustang Pacer" and "The Headless Horseman", and "Armed and Very Dangerous", "Dungeon of the Witches" and many others. The directors were attracted by the unusual appearance of this place. For the same reason, photographs of the White Rock are quite famous. Ak-Kaya has been considered a natural monument since 1981.
Fortress of Zmey-Gorynych
Like any remarkable place in Crimea, White Rock is extremely rich in legends and fairy tales. Most of them are about a cave called the Golden Hole - the same one where the bones of Neanderthals were found.
It is considered something like the lair of the local Serpent-Gorynych, who for a long time threatened the beauties of the mountains. The cave cavity is also considered a refuge for the Crimean forty robbers, who allegedly hid stolen gold there. No one has found this gold, but there are plenty of robbers around because of such stories - “black archaeologists” are constantly robbing Scythian burial mounds.
They say “in all seriousness” that the cave is very long and stretches underground not just anywhere, but all the way to the cave itself. True, the map argues against this version, demonstrating the distances separating the two objects.
What attracts tourists to White Rock?
A tourist who wishes to visit the Ak-Kaya rock in Crimea will definitely have a question: 
how to get there, because there are no good roads to its highest point. There is a well-established path, which some people manage to travel by car, but it should be taken into account that it is quite steep and requires satisfactory physical fitness to even walk along it. It is best to take the help of knowledgeable people and not look for this path on your own. Caution is also necessary for those who wish to visit the Golden Hole - the cave is difficult to access even without the machinations of the Serpent-Gorynych, so be careful.
Now in the village at the foot of the mountain there is a horse farm, so you can make the ascent on horseback, trying out the roles of the characters from “The Headless Horseman.” At the peak, even a non-specialist can see several mounds - there are many Scythian and Sarmatian burials there. It is not recommended for decent people to look for gold - “black archeology” is punishable. But the main thing that the reviews of conquerors note is the excellent views from the top. In addition to the surrounding valleys and mountain ranges of the Main Range and, here you can see Belogorsk quite well, and in good weather - even part of.
How to get to Ak-Kai?
By public transport you can get to White Rock in this way. First you need to get to Belogorsk - transport regularly departs here from Simferopol or Feodosia. Then, at the city bus station, find a minibus going to the village of Belaya Skala. After getting off at the indicated village, you will need to walk several kilometers in a northerly direction - be guided by the bridge over the river. A map with the coordinates of the attraction will also help in this case.
By car you can get to Ak-Kaya from Belogorsk in the following way:
Note to tourists
- Address: Belaya Skala village, Belogorsky district, Crimea, Russia.
- Coordinates: 45.104946, 34.624031.
Tourists who have a broad outlook and are interested in folklore, history and geology, and who are not opposed to an active lifestyle, will definitely be attracted to the White Rock in Crimea. This place is multifaceted enough to satisfy the widest needs of its guests! A video about him in conclusion is attached. Enjoy watching!
The Crimean mountains are fraught with many interesting and unknown things. They protect the peninsula on the southern side and delight with their sometimes bizarre shapes. One of the particularly remarkable and memorable rocks is called Ak-Kaya. Ak-Kaya is located near the village of Belaya Skala in the Belogorsky district.
Geographic coordinates of White Rock - Ak-Kaya on the map of Crimea GPS N 45.098056, E 34.633333
Name Ak-Kaya translated from Crimean Tatar as “white rock”. Moreover, it is under this name that it is better known among tourists and local residents. And the village of Belaya Skala received its name precisely in connection with the proximity of Ak-Kaya. Approaching these places in the Belogorsk region, Ak-Kai simply cannot be missed. It is a steep white cliff with a very flat top. Ak-Kaya serves as a natural decoration of the Biyuk-Karasu river valley. The height of the White Rock reaches three hundred and twenty-five meters, so if you approach its foot and look up, it will seem infinitely high. From a distance, Ak-Kaya looks perfectly flat, but in fact it is filled with many rapids and ledges.
It must be said that only the most courageous and prepared climbers dare to conquer this peak. The white color of Ak-Kaya is due to the fact that it is composed of limestone and sandstone, and is the result of their weathering and erosion. At the top of Ak-Kaya there are various natural grottoes and rounded niches, and below you can see rocky mounds and accumulations of large stones. Such an unusual and massive appearance of Ak-Kai attracts many filmmakers here. The rock became a film set during the creation of such films as “The Headless Horseman”, “Code of the Apocalypse”, “The Leader of the Redskins”, “Escape to the End of the World” and some others.
In the second half of the 20th century, the White Rock aroused considerable interest among archaeological researchers. At this time, excavations were carried out here, the progress of which was led by Yu. G. Kolosov, an employee of the Institute of Archeology. Two dozen sites of ancient people who, according to researchers, belonged to the Mousterian era were discovered here. Stone knives and tools were found on the rock. For the first time, the bone remains of Neanderthals were excavated here. There is also confirmation that mammoths, giant deer, cave bears, saigas and other animals that are not typical for modern fauna once lived here. There is an assumption that settlements of the Sarmatians and Scythians were located on Ak-Kaya.
How to get to the White Rock - Ak-Kaya
The easiest way to get to Belaya Skala is from the city of Belogorsk, in the north of the city, there is an exit towards the villages: Yablochnoe and Belaya Skala, 4 km from Belogorsk and you are in the village of Belaya Skala, the Ak-Kaya rock simply hangs over the village, you can drive through it or not notice it It's simply not possible. A dirt road leads to the top of the mountain from the village; it lazily goes for several kilometers and rises to the large plateau of the Ak-Kaya rock. There are many viewing platforms on the plateau, there are even viewing platforms for cars. In late spring and early autumn, the dirt road is severely washed out, so it is best to get there by all-wheel drive; in winter, even on it it is very dangerous.
In the middle of the White Rock wall there is a hard-to-reach cave called Altyn Teshik (“golden hole”). There are several legends about it, one of which says that the treasures of robbers are hidden there.
Over many centuries, Ak-Kaya continually changed its purpose. It was also a place of execution and ceremonial oath-taking, and a home and even a military headquarters. White Rock is one of the most famous and visited.
