Beautiful place on the left bank of the Psekups river, a few kilometers south of the city Hot key and away from the federal highway "Don". You can get to the Valley of Charm by the Goryachy Klyuch-Tuapse train.

The Valley of Charm is distinguished by its clean air, beautiful landscapes and microclimate. It is not hot here in summer, and in winter, moderate temperatures are combined with an almost complete absence of wind and atmospheric pressure with extremely small differences. A huge foothill glade nine kilometers long and two wide, overgrown with oak trees.

Near the Valley of Charm are the Heroic Caves.

The road to the Big Fanagoria stalactite cave and to the Main (Vodorazdelny) Caucasian ridge passes through it. It is close to these places and is quite accessible for excursions.

Based on materials from the guide "100 attractions of the Hot Key" V. Dyadyushenko

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Valley of charm

The excursions described above are by bus. I would like to offer amateurs hiking a fascinating route to the Valley of Charm, lost in the spurs of the Dzhinal ridge.

When you drive through railroad, then on the stretch between the stations Bely Ugol and Podkumok behind the former pioneer camp "Eaglet" on the left goes into the bulk of the Dzhinalsky ridge, a large gorge, densely overgrown with forest. This is the Valley of Charm, where you and I are heading.

The journey can be started from the Podkumok railway station. Passing the residential houses of the village, we go to the bank of the Podkumok river. Having passed downstream of the river, where it forms wide stretches, we choose a place to wade. Sometimes, after the rains, the river becomes quite turbulent, but the crossing is nonetheless safe. Here it is best to go to the country road leading to the cottages and small village... These amazing places of the Pasture Range are beautiful in summer. The air is filled with the aroma of flowering mountain grasses, and the sky literally rings from the iridescent songs of larks. now soaring motionless in the blue heights of the sky, now diving swiftly to the ground. Swallows, pigeons, shrikes prefer to sit out in the summer heat on high-voltage wires, where a light breeze always brings pleasant freshness.

Here, on the mountain pastures, the hostesses milk the cows. Thin streams of milk tinkle in the poses. the empty foam of fresh milk rises higher and higher. And you will never be denied a mug of milk, and even with good wishes for health. In even rows on the slopes there are mows of grass mown in the morning to turn into fragrant, vitamin hay, which has absorbed all the smells of a sunny summer. Thyme, oregano, tricolor violet, valerian - more than two hundred types of medicinal herbs but found at this time on the slopes of the Pasture Range. Collect, do not be lazy! Expansion began for mushroom pickers. Round mushroom caps in the pastures have densely climbed to the surface of the earth, small heads of summer mushrooms are hiding in the grass.

And here, finally, is a small river flowing through the Valley of Charm. It breaks out into the valley of the Podkumok River with a waterfall up to 3.5 meters high. True, because of the outbuildings, you can only approach it from above. A small path leads us further. For about one and a half kilometers, the stream cuts itself through a narrow gorge with steep sides. The walk is quite difficult, but interesting. The huge leaves of burdocks sometimes almost completely block the path in the dense forest. Fallen trees block the path. The stream chimes merrily on the pebbles, hitting the banks of marls and shale at bends. In such places, you need to be careful, as there are many small landslides. Further, the path through the Valley of Charm is easier. The river now hides in a dense forest, then runs out into the sun-drenched meadows. The forest in the Valley of Enchantment is very interesting. The thickets of hazel, dogwood, hawthorn, mountain ash, elderberry, maple, oak are dense and shady. Higher in the valley, among the thickets of hazel, you can see small trees, strewn with whole garlands of fancy large white flowers with a spicy smell, six fingers coming out right from the center of the leaves. It is eucomia, which is native to China. It looks like cherry laurel and contains gutta - the raw material for the production of gutta-percha.

Higher in the valley, the path is blocked by rocks of dense marl, from where a stream begins with a powerful spring. This is very a good place for a halt.

After rest, you can return the same way to the Podkumok station, but, perhaps, the path further up the slope will be more interesting. The forest ends, the slopes become gentle. There is a good country road along which you can walk to the village of Bely Ugol. The road offers a magnificent view of the Podkumok river valley. It is quite easy to go down the road, and after 3-4 kilometers you will find yourself in the village, where the White Coal railway station is located and city buses run.

The very name of this excursion - a walk to the "Valley of Charm" beckons to the road. And indeed in the Valley of Charm have its own waterfall , the canyons are very similar to those in Colorado, only in miniature. If you shoot all this in a movie, you can't distinguish it from the original from a special angle. And it is also rich in steppe grasses up to the waist and forest thickets that are rather difficult to pass.

Locals call this place Chuguevskaya Balka, under this name the Valley of Charm is described in Wikipedia. Now this place is nature reserve with a unique relict beech forest. At the bottom of the gully flows a river of karst origin with many.

Wonderful the Valley of Enchantment is described in the novel "She-Wolf's Milk" Andrey Gubin who grew up in these places. Probably, for this reason, from the pages of the book, she appears before us as a mysterious kingdom with "monsters, treasures and sorcerers who took the guise of stumps and snags." There "the forest road goes to the sky" and blue coolness spreads from the mountains. There, "stumps are taken prisoner, perched in burdocks and lilies, and the sharp cry of a jay pierces the consciousness." Those who have visited the Valley of Charm cannot but agree with the writer, the impressions of visiting her are so strong.

It's not easy to get to the Valley of Charm, you have to walk along, and it is blocked by many buildings and fences that make it difficult to walk. Yes, and in the valley itself, sometimes you can find not very pleasant traces of human activity, but if you do not pay attention to these trifles, the excursion to the Valley of Charm is considered to be the cost of modern civilization and it will turn out to be very exciting and will be remembered for a long time, if not for a lifetime.

I can suggest that both start at the Podkumok station - it is between it and the neighboring White Coal station that the Valley of Enchantment is located. Only from White Coal the path to it is further and more difficult. You can also go along the highway, but just keep in mind that there is too much traffic along the highway.

And so from the station Podkumok to the valley of enchantment there are two ways.

How to get to the Valley of Enchantment - map.

The first is to cross the Podkumok River along a suspension bridge and move to the left along a country road that winds along the picturesque hillsides. This gives a moderate amount of stress to the hikers. On the way, you can stop at the rig and have a cold drink that looks like narzan.

The second way - immediately from the station, turn left and follow the road laid along the valley of the Podkumok river to the automobile bridge. In the latter case, the meeting with the Valley of Charm, hidden in the spurs of the Dzhinal ridge, will be more unexpected and especially pleasant. From the area thoroughly mastered by man, you will find yourself in a fairy tale as if by magic. Around is silence, peace, solitude and motley forbs of a flowering meadow, and behind it a shady thicket of forest.

The gateway to the Valley of Enchantment.

Previously, two chalk cliffs served as a kind of gateway to the Valley of Charm, between which a small river runs out to meet Podkumko. Walking through this pretty mini canyon , you could more clearly feel the difference in the terrain behind and in front of you. But today all approaches to the rocks are blocked by fences and structures, and therefore to get into the Valley of Charm, you can only cross the nearest hill.