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Volga river. Great Russian River Volga Volga Drainage Basin

A wide range of landscapes - from the southern edge of the forest zone to the semi-desert bordering the shores of the Northern Caspian, huge tracts of fertile land, rich pastures, oil from the "Second Baku", inexhaustible salt reserves in the Elton and Baskunchak lakes, and finally, the beauties of the Volga and Kama rivers - these are the main strokes characterizing the nature of the Volga region. Of course, it is complex and diverse, and the attention of researchers has always been attracted by its rich resources. They were studied especially deeply in Soviet times when searching for oil and gas, as well as in connection with surveys for the construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Volga and Kama.

The real pearl of the region is the Volga itself with a wide expanse of water, a grandiose valley and a high right-bank slope.

The great Russian river originates in the form of a stream on the wooded slopes of the Valdai Upland. Fast and narrow in its upper reaches, it meanders through the forests and, forming huge bends, directs its course to the east. On this way, taking in many tributaries, it becomes more and more powerful and rich in water, and within the Volga region proper, after confluence with the Kama, it becomes the first in Europe in terms of water content.

From Kazan, the Volga makes a sharp turn and then, for almost 1000 km, tends to the southwest in the direction of ... the Black Sea. Only from Volgograd, turning sharply again, this time to the southeast, it heads towards the Caspian Sea, into which it flows, breaking up into countless arms.

On the way to the south, the Volga receives fewer and fewer tributaries, and therefore its basin has the shape of a tree with a dense crown in the north in the forest zone and forest-steppe and with an almost bare trunk in the south, in the area of dry and sultry semi-desert. The Volga delta with its channels forms, as it were, the roots of this tree, going to the islands of the Caspian shallow water. To the south of the city of Tolyatti, the trunk of the Volga tree is twisted.

Here, bending around an obstacle made of solid rocks, The Volga forms a narrow latitudinal bend - the Samara Bend.

To the south of Volgograd, the river trunk bifurcates: a large branch branches off from it - the Akhtuba River, which flows parallel to the parent channel to the top of the delta and at the same time begins to break up into delta channels and branches.

Now the trunk of the Volga tree is losing its former harmony: it becomes knotty due to the chain of huge reservoirs following one after another at short distances. The flow of the modern Volga is regulated by powerful dams, and the huge reservoirs they backed up, flooded the river valley - Kuibyshev, Saratov, Volgograd - stretch for tens of kilometers in width. Therefore, in many areas the former Volga channel disappeared under water, and a single water stream was replaced by a cascade of flowing lakes, the water surface of which forms, as it were, wide steps of the “Volga ladder”, descending south to the sea.

On both sides of the Volga stretched wide expanses of the Volga region. The traveler usually judges the nature of this southeastern outskirts of the Russian Plain only by what can be seen from the deck of a steamer sailing along the river. Then you involuntarily get the impression that the Volga region is just the Volga valley, or rather, its picturesque banks, with their special climate, vegetation, and industrial cities. Behind the wall of riverine forests, you can not notice the change natural landscapes on the adjacent watersheds: the transition from the forest zone to the forest-steppe, and then to the wide expanses of the steppe Trans-Volga region and to the low-lying sultry semi-desert of the Caspian Sea.

The journey from Kazan to the south leaves many instructive and vivid impressions. In the Volga cliffs, one can see opening geological outcrops and observe how the ancient layers of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, in places crumpled into gentle folds, gradually sink to the south under the river's edge. And they are replaced, overlapping them, by younger Tertiary and loose Quaternary deposits.

The high slope of the right bank of the Volga, deeply dissected by ravines and dry valleys, is very picturesque. Its steep cliffs - "crowns", washed away by the river, steadily moving its course to the west, annually, when the shore it presses down, retreat, snatching land from the Volga fields. Often on the banks of the Volga one can see huge ancient and young landslides with their chaotic heaps of crumpled and bumpy layers at the foot. In places where the coast is composed of limestone and marl, there are karst caves and funnels.

From the south, the wide expanse of the Kuibyshev reservoir, stretching almost to the horizon, is supported by the dam of the Volga hydroelectric power station named after V. I. Lenin, and behind it high wooded Zhiguli mountains open with their conical peaks and steep slopes. On three sides they are surrounded by a bend of the Volga - Samarskaya Luka, and from the west - a wide bay of the reservoir, formed at the mouth of the Usa River. They make up the well-known to tourists "Zhigulev round the world", which is described in the chapter on the Kuibyshev region.

Passing through the narrow Zhiguli gates, where the river is squeezed to the right by the slopes of the Zhiguli, and from the left bank of the Sokolya Mountain, far in the east, you can sometimes see a hazy panorama of the low-lying steppe left bank and the steppe floodplain terraces of the Volga, so flat and monotonous compared to the green Volga slope. In the lower reaches, the pictures are different: from the steamer you can see the green expanse of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain (zaimishche) and the Volga delta. But this bright greenery is pouring a huge riverine oasis created by the floods of the spring Volga waters against the backdrop of the sultry Caspian semi-desert scorched by the sun.

Near the Caspian coast, the greenery of the Volga meadows is gradually replaced by reed beds - real "jungles" in which the colorful and rich world of animals and birds, protected by the Astrakhan state reserve. In the coastal part of the Volga delta and on the coast, the flyways of waterfowl nesting in the northern regions of the country converge. They rest and feed for a long time in the foredelta.

We got acquainted only with the banks of the Volga, and beyond them, to the west and east, the Volga region itself spreads, in the wide expanses of which the influence of the mighty river is almost not felt. And in front of those who cross this territory, moving towards the Volga from the steppe, its water surface appears suddenly, only when you climb a high right-bank slope or on the edge of a floodplain terrace on the left bank.

The Volga region is the southeastern corner of the Russian Plain, its marginal zone, the area of \u200b\u200bthe most continental, and in the south of the most arid climate in Europe. In the Lower Volga region, both the beast, and the man, and the plant feel the breath of the deserts, which have put forward their western outpost here far beyond the borders of Asia.

The contrast between the nature of the watershed spaces of the Volga region and the Volga valley is less in the forest steppe zone where the Volga merges with the Kama. Here, the tributaries of two mighty Russian rivers do not dry up during the summer, and forests grow not only in the valleys - and on the watersheds they alternate with wide treeless expanses of fertile meadow steppes.

To the south of the Samarskaya Luka, the forests leave the watersheds and "hide" in the valleys and gullies, finding more shade and moisture in them. Chernozem steppes are becoming endless, already almost completely plowed, but even now, as of old, suffering from a lack of moisture, droughts and dry winds. The main source of water supply in countryside here are not rivers, but groundwater of the upper horizons. But they are not abundant, and in the steppes, even not far from the Volga, in shallow wells, the water is often brackish or completely salty.

The farther to the south and southeast, the hotter and drier the climate becomes: the amount of annual precipitation decreases, evaporation increases, the steppe rivers become shallower, which often almost completely dry up in summer. The amount of salts in the soil gradually increases. Moderately arid feather grass-forb steppes are replaced by arid fescue-feather grass steppes, and further to the south, where chernozems give way to dark chestnut soils, wormwood appears on solonetz patches.

Behind the southern edge of the dry steppe, a flat and waterless Caspian semi-desert begins with its saline, “complex” (mosaic) soil cover, drainless rivers, squat and sparse vegetation. Soil moisture deficiency (less precipitation falls than can evaporate), lack of even drinking water, general anhydrous! And next to it is the Volga, meandering in the fresh greenery of the banks, expanding its water surface in huge reservoirs, carries through the Lower Volga region in transit and annually releases billions of cubic meters of fresh water to the Caspian Sea.

The problem of the optimal use of the Volga waters is complex: it intertwines a whole range of problems and questions. When solving it, it is necessary to combine the interests of hydropower construction with the protection of the fish resources of the Volga-Kasppya, the improvement of navigation using the fertile Volga lands and the richest hayfields of the Volga-Akhtuba. Here questions arise about the expediency and methods of irrigating the steppe and semi-desert spaces, about the transfer of part northern waters to the Caspian Sea, on maintaining its level at levels favorable for various sectors of the economy, and so on. Much has already been done, especially in terms of the hydropower use of the Volga waters.

However, on the whole, the whole complex and multifaceted complex of the Volga problems still requires persistent and in-depth scientific and technical development.

Hello! The Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea and, accordingly, belongs to the basin of this sea.

Volga is a river in the European part of Russia, one of largest rivers on Earth and the largest in Europe.

Length - 3530 km (before the construction of reservoirs - 3690 km). The basin area is 1360 thousand km².

The Volga originates on the Valdai Upland (at an altitude of 229 m), flows into the Caspian Sea. The mouth lies 28 m below sea level. The total fall is 256 m. The Volga is the world's largest river of internal flow, that is, it does not flow into the oceans.

The river system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand watercourses (rivers, streams and temporary watercourses) with a total length of 574 thousand km. The Volga receives about 200 tributaries. The left tributaries are more numerous and more abundant than the right ones. There are no significant tributaries after Kamyshin.

The Volga basin occupies about 1/3 European territory Russia and extends from the Valdai and Central Russian Uplands in the west to the Urals in the east. The main feeding part of the Volga drainage area, from the source to the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, is located in the forest zone, the middle part of the basin to the cities of Samara and Saratov is in the forest-steppe zone, the lower part is in the steppe zone to Volgograd, and to the south - in the semi-desert zone . It is customary to divide the Volga into 3 parts: the upper Volga - from the source to the mouth of the Oka, the middle Volga - from the confluence of the Oka to the mouth of the Kama, and the lower Volga - from the confluence of the Kama to the mouth.

Geographically, the Volga basin includes Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Moscow, Smolensk, Tver, Vladimir, Kaluga, Orel, Ryazan, Vologda, Kirov, Penza, Tambov, Tula regions, Perm region, Udmurtia, Mari El, Mordovia, Chuvashia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kalmykia, Komi, Moscow and Atyrau region of Kazakhstan.

The Volga is connected to by the Baltic Sea Volga-Baltic waterway, Vyshnevolotsk and Tikhvin systems; with the White Sea - through the Severodvinsk system and through the White Sea-Baltic Canal; with the Azov and Black Seas - through the Volga-Don Canal.

About 70 species of fish live in the Volga, of which 40 are commercial (the most important are: vobla, herring, bream, pike perch, carp, catfish, pike, sturgeon, sterlet).

General characteristics of the pool

The Volga is mainly fed by snow (60% of the annual runoff), ground (30%) and rain (10%) waters. The natural regime is characterized by spring floods (April - June), low water during the summer and winter low water periods, and autumn rain floods (October). Annual fluctuations in the level of the Volga before regulation reached 11 m near Tver, 15–17 m below the Kama mouth, and 3 m near Astrakhan. With the construction of reservoirs, the Volga runoff was regulated, level fluctuations decreased sharply. At the same time, on wide multi-kilometer reservoirs (for example, in Rybinsk, Kuibyshev) in inclement weather, waves up to 1.5 meters high are formed, to counteract which artificial breakwaters had to be built in the water area of a number of ports on the Volga (for example, Kazan). In addition, in connection with the rise in the level during the creation of reservoirs along low-lying banks in a number of cities, wide and often shallow marshy estuaries and backwaters were formed, and engineering protective structures were built in the form of dams, backup pumps, etc. Volga water temperature in the middle of summer (July) reaches 20--25 °C. The Volga breaks up near Astrakhan in the middle of March; in the first half of April, the breakup occurs on the upper Volga and below Kamyshin, along the rest of its length - in mid-April. It freezes in the upper and middle reaches at the end of November, in the lower reaches at the beginning of December; Free from ice remains about 200 days, and near Astrakhan about 260 days. The basin area is 1360 thousand km².

The Volga basin occupies about 1/3 of the European territory of Russia and extends from the Valdai and Central Russian Uplands in the west to the Urals in the east. The main, feeding part of the Volga drainage area, from the source to the cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, is located in the forest zone, the middle part of the basin to the cities of Samara and Saratov is in the forest-steppe zone, the lower part is in the steppe zone to Volgograd, and to the south - in the semi-desert zone. It is customary to divide the Volga into 3 parts: the upper Volga - from the source to the mouth of the Oka, the middle Volga - from the confluence of the Oka to the mouth of the Kama, and the lower Volga - from the confluence of the Kama to the mouth.

The source of the Volga is the key near the village of Volgoverkhovye in the Tver region. IN upstream, within the Valdai Upland, the Volga passes through small lakes - Small and Big Verkhity, then through a system of large lakes known as the Upper Volga lakes: Sterzh, Vselug, Peno and Volgo, united in the so-called Upper Volga reservoir.

The Volga is connected to the Baltic Sea by the Volga-Baltic waterway, the Vyshnevolotsk and Tikhvin systems; with the White Sea - through the Severodvinsk system and through the White Sea-Baltic Canal; with the Azov and Black Seas - through the Volga-Don Canal.

Large forest areas are located in the upper Volga basin, large areas in the Middle and partly in the Lower Volga region are occupied by grain and industrial crops. Developed melon growing and horticulture. The Volga-Ural region has rich deposits of oil and gas. Near Solikamsk there are large deposits of potash salts. In the Lower Volga region (Lake Baskunchak, Elton) - table salt. Inland waterways along the Volga: from the city of Rzhev to the Kolkhoznik pier (589 kilometers), the Kolkhoznik pier - Bertul (Krasnye Barrikada settlement) - 2604 kilometers, as well as a 40-km section in the river delta

About 70 species of fish live in the Volga, of which 40 are commercial (the most important are: vobla, bream, pike perch, carp, catfish, pike, sturgeon, sterlet).

The river ports of the Volga basin are the main water transport centers that organize the transportation of goods and passengers along the Volga River and its tributaries. After the creation of a unified deep-water transport system and the completion of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic and Volga-Don canals and the Volga-Baltic waterway, they became "ports of five seas", having access to the White, Baltic, Azov, Black and Caspian seas.

In the middle of the 20th century, the construction of hydroelectric complexes of the Volga-Kama cascade of hydroelectric power stations and the creation of large reservoirs led to the construction of new and reconstruction of old ports, incl. largest in Europe (Kazan, Perm, Astrakhan, etc.), a sharp increase in cargo and passenger turnover of ports.

The main ports of the Volga (from the headwaters to the mouth, year of construction): Tver (1961), Cherepovets (1960), Rybinsk (1942), Yaroslavl (1948), Kineshma, Nizhny Novgorod (1932), Cheboksary, Kazan (1948), Ulyanovsk ( 1947), Tolyatti (1957), Samara (1948), Saratov (1948), Volgograd (1938), Astrakhan (1934). Ports and piers on the Kama: Berezniki, Levshino, Perm (1943), Tchaikovsky, Kambarka, Naberezhnye Chelny, Chistopol. Other major ports and piers in the basin: Ryazan on the Oka, Ufa on Belaya, Kirov on Vyatka; special meaning have ports of Moscow on the Moskva River (Northern, Western and Southern). Ports work from 180 days in Perm to 240 days in Astrakhan.

Waterways scheme

Characteristics of the locks of the hydroelectric facilities of the Volga basin

Characteristics of the largest lakes of the Volga basin

Distances between the main tariff points of the Volga Shipping Company

The first mention of the Volga River dates back to ancient times, when it was called as "Ra". In later times, already in Arabic sources, the river was called Atel (Etel, Itil), which means “ great river or "river of rivers". That is how the Byzantine Theophanes and subsequent chroniclers called her in the annals.
The current name "Volga" has several versions of its origin. The version about the Baltic roots of the name seems to be the most probable. According to the Latvian valka, which means "overgrown river", the Volga got its name. This is how the river looks in its upper reaches, where the Balts lived in antiquity. According to another version, the name of the river comes from the word valkea (Finno-Ugric), which means "white" or from the Old Slavic "volog" (moisture).

Hydrography

Since ancient times, the Volga has not lost its grandeur at all. Today it is the largest river in Russia and ranks 16th in the world among the most long rivers. Before the construction of the cascade of reservoirs, the length of the river was 3690 km, today this figure has decreased to 3530 km. At the same time, navigable navigation is carried out for 3500 km. In navigation, the channel plays an important role. Moscow, which acts as a link between the capital and the great Russian river.
The Volga connects with the following seas:

with the Azov and Black Seas through the Volga-Don Canal;
with the Baltic Sea through the Volga-Baltic waterway;
with the White Sea along the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the Severodvinsk river system.

The waters of the Volga originate in the region of the Valdai Upland - in the spring of the village of Volga-Verkhovye, which is located in the Tver region. The height of the source above sea level is 228 meters. Further, the river carries its waters through all of Central Russia to the Caspian Sea. The height of the fall of the river is small, because. the mouth of the river is only 28 meters below sea level. Thus, throughout its entire length, the river descends 256 meters, and its slope is 0.07%. The average speed of the river flow is relatively low - from 2 to 6 km/h (less than 1 m/s).
The Volga is fed mainly by melt water, which accounts for 60% of the annual runoff. 30% of the runoff comes from groundwater (which supports the river in winter) and only 10% brings rain (mainly in summer). Throughout its length, 200 tributaries flow into the Volga. But already at the latitude of Saratov water basin the river narrows, after which the Volga flows from Kamyshin to the Caspian Sea without support from other tributaries.
From April to June, the Volga is characterized by a high spring flood, which lasts an average of 72 days. Max level The rise of water in the river is observed in the first half of May, when it spills over the floodplain territory for 10 or more kilometers. And in the lower reaches - in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, the width of the flood in places reaches 30 km.
Summer is characterized by a stable low-water period, which lasts from mid-June to early October. Rains in October bring with them an autumn flood, after which a period of low-water winter low water begins, when the Volga is fed only by groundwater.
It should also be noted that after the construction of a whole cascade of reservoirs and regulation of the flow, fluctuations in the water level became much less significant.
The Volga freezes in its upper and middle reaches, usually at the end of November. In the lower reaches, ice rises in early December.
Ice drift on the Volga in the upper reaches, as well as in the section from Astrakhan to Kamyshin, occurs in the first half of April. In the area near Astrakhan, the river usually breaks up in mid-March.
At Astrakhan, the river remains ice-free for almost 260 days a year, while in other sections this time is about 200 days. During the open water period, the river is actively used for ship navigation.
The main part of the river's catchment is forest zone located from the very source to Nizhny Novgorod. The middle part of the river flows through forest-steppe zone, and the lower part flows already through semi-deserts.

Volga map

Different Volga: Upper, Middle and Lower

According to the classification adopted today, the Volga in its course is divided into three parts:

The Upper Volga captures the section from the source to the confluence of the Oka (in the city of Nizhny Novgorod);
The Middle Volga extends from the mouth of the Oka River to the confluence of the Kama;
The Lower Volga starts from the mouth of the Kama River and reaches the Caspian Sea itself.

As for the Lower Volga, some adjustments should be made. After the construction of the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric power station just above Samara and the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, today's border between the middle and lower sections of the river passes just at the level of the dam.

Upper Volga

In its upper course, the river made its way through the system of the Upper Volga lakes. Between Rybinsk and Tver, 3 reservoirs are of interest to anglers: Rybinskoye (the famous "fish"), Ivankovskoye (the so-called "Moscow Sea") and the Uglich reservoir. Even further downstream, bypassing Yaroslavl and as far as Kostroma, the riverbed passes through a narrow valley with high banks. Then, a little higher than Nizhny Novgorod, there is the dam of the Gorky hydroelectric power station, which forms the Gorky reservoir of the same name. The most significant contribution to the Upper Volga is made by such tributaries as: Unzha, Selizharovka, Mologa and Tvertsa.

Middle Volga

Behind Nizhny Novgorod Middle Volga begins. Here the width of the river increases by more than 2 times - the Volga becomes full-flowing, reaching a width of 600 m to 2+ km. Near the city of Cheboksary, after the construction of the Cheboksary hydroelectric power station of the same name, an extended reservoir was formed. The area of the reservoir is 2190 square km. by the most major tributaries The rivers of the Middle Volga are: Oka, Sviyaga, Vetluga and Sura.

Lower Volga

The Lower Volga begins immediately after the confluence of the Kama River. Here the river, indeed, can be called mighty in all respects. The Lower Volga carries its full-flowing streams along the Volga Upland. Near the city of Tolyatti on the Volga, the largest reservoir was built - Kuibyshevskoe, on which in 2011 there was a disaster with the notorious motor ship Bulgaria. The reservoir of the Volga hydroelectric power station named after Lenin is propped up. Even further downstream, near the city of Balakovo, the Saratov hydroelectric power station was built. The tributaries of the Lower Volga are no longer so full of water, these are the rivers: Samara, Eruslan, Sok, Big Irgiz.

Volga-Akhtuba floodplain

Below the city of Volzhsky, a left branch called Akhtuba separates from the great Russian river. After the construction of the Volga hydroelectric power station, the beginning of the Akhtuba was a 6 km canal extending from the root Volga. Today, the length of Akhtuba is 537 km, the river carries its waters to the northeast parallel to the mother channel, then approaching it, then moving away again. Together with the Volga, Akhtuba forms the famous Volga-Akhtuba floodplain - a real fishing eldorado. The floodplain territory is pierced by numerous channels, saturated with flood lakes and unusually rich in all kinds of fish. The width of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain averages from 10 to 30 km.
Through the territory of the Astrakhan region, the Volga travels 550 km, carrying its waters along the Caspian lowland. At the 3038th kilometer of its journey, the Volga River splits into 3 branches: Bold Curve, City and Trusovsky. And in the section from 3039 to 3053 km, the city of Astrakhan is located along the branches of the City and Trusovsky.
Below Astrakhan, the river makes a turn to the southwest and splits into numerous branches that form a delta.

Volga Delta

The Volga delta first begins to form in a place where one of the branches called Buzan separates from the main channel. This place is located above Astrakhan. In general, the Volga delta has over 510 branches, small channels and eriks. The delta is located on a total area of 19 thousand square kilometers. In width, the distance between the western and eastern branches of the delta reaches 170 km. In the generally accepted classification, the Volga delta consists of three parts: upper, middle and lower. The upper and middle delta zones consist of small islands, separated by channels (eriks) with a width of 7 to 18 meters. The lower part of the Volga delta consists of very branched channel channels, which pass into the so-called. Caspian peals, famous for their lotus fields.
Due to the lowering of the level of the Caspian Sea over the past 130 years, the area of the Volga delta is also growing. During this time, it has increased more than 9 times.
Today, the Volga delta is the largest in Europe, but is famous primarily for its rich fish stocks.
Note that the flora and fauna of the delta is under protection - the Astrakhan Reserve is located here. Therefore, amateur fishing in these places is regulated and not allowed everywhere.

The economic role of the river in the life of the country

Since the 30s of the last century, electricity has been produced on the river with the help of hydroelectric power stations. Since then, 9 hydroelectric power plants with their reservoirs have been built on the Volga. At the moment, the river basin has sheltered approximately 45% of industry and half of all agriculture in Russia. More than 20% of all fish are caught in the Volga basin for Food Industry RF.
The logging industry is developed in the Upper Volga basin, and grain crops are grown in the Middle and Lower Volga regions. Horticulture and horticulture are also developed along the middle and lower reaches of the river.
The Volga-Ural region is rich in natural gas and oil deposits. Near the city of Solikamsk there are deposits of potassium salts. The famous lake Baskunchak on the Lower Volga is famous not only for its healing mud, but also for its salt deposits.
Upstream ships carry oil products, coal, gravel materials, cement, metal, salt and food products. Downstream supplies timber, industrial raw materials, lumber and finished products.

Animal world

Tourism and fishing on the Volga

In the mid-90s of the last century, due to the economic decline in the country, water tourism on the Volga lost its popularity. The situation was normalized only at the beginning of this century. But the outdated material and technical base hinders the development of the tourism business. Motor ships that were built back in Soviet times(60-90 years of the last century). There are quite a lot of water tourist routes along the Volga. From Moscow alone, motor ships run on more than 20 different routes.

The Volga is one of the largest rivers in Russia. Its basin area is 1,361,000 km². The Volga river basin unites about 66.5 thous. various rivers. Since this guide describes the rivers of the Moscow region, we will consider only the following reservoirs:

The rivers Gzhat and Vazuza

The Gzhat River, the right tributary of the Vazuza, which is, in turn, the right tributary of the Volga, originates south of the city of Gzhatsk. After Gzhatsk, the river flows in a northwesterly direction and flows into the Vazuza at about 50 km above its mouth. The length of the river Gzhat - 110 km.

The rivers Gzhat and Vazuza flow almost through a treeless and flat plain. There are no forests at all along the banks of the Gzhat River, not everywhere along the coast you can even find coastal thickets of willow, common for steppe rivers. Only in front of Bolshoy Nikolsky (about 30 km from the mouth) on the banks of the Gzhat there will be a small copse. Parking on the Gzhat River is possible only open, not provided with either greenery or firewood. Firewood must be collected along the way and carried with you. There are frequent settlements along the banks, lava and bridges are thrown across the channel in many places.

The bottom of the river is mostly sandy, the banks are dry. There are no dams. The width of the river is about 10 m near the city of Gzhatsk and about 30 m at the mouth. Depth in summer 20 – 70 cm.

The Vazuza River flows in higher and slightly hilly banks, in some places covered with weak copses. On the banks of the Vazuza, it is possible to find a suitable place for parking, easier with fuel for a fire. The width of the river does not exceed 30 m, it is somewhat narrowed by the banks. The bottom is sandy, sometimes rubble. Under the spans of the bridge of the Riga railway, there are heaps of stone and iron. It is necessary to pass by kayak near the left bank. There are no dams on the Vazuse River between the mouth of the Gzhat River and the Volga.

The route along the Gzhat River starts from the city of Gzhatsk of the Belarusian Railway (180 km from Moscow) and ends in the city of Zubtsovo - Riga railway. Route length about 140 km, of which about 90 km along the Gzhat River and about 50 km along the river Vazuza.

The route can be extended along the Volga from the city of Zubtsovo to the city of Kalinin, that is, to go about 160 more km. The Volga in this section is a significant river, its width is up to 90 m near the city of Zubtsov and up to 130 m near the city of Kalinin. However, the depth of the river is not so great and does not exceed 25 cm on the rapids, of which there are nine between the cities of Zubtsov and Kalinin.

The banks of the Volga near Rzhev are high, hilly, gradually decreasing towards the city of Kalinin.

The banks of the Volga are not very rich in forests, many open spaces, especially in the area of such large settlements like the cities of Zubtsov, Staritsa, Kalinin. However, copses and even forests in many places frame the blue ribbon of the Volga for a long time, many picturesque and beautiful places, it is not difficult to find a good place for tourist parking.

The bed of the Volga and its banks are predominantly gravel, there are few sandy beaches.

Return from the city of Kalinin by train.

The Darkness River is the left tributary of the Volga, originates on the uplands of the plain, extending north of the city of Rzhev, flows east, and after the city of Vysoky, it deviates somewhat to the north. For some distance, Darkness flows parallel to the Volga, to the north of it, then turns to the southeast and soon merges with the Volga 16 km above the city of Kalinin. The length of the river is 140 km.
Darkness flows through a wooded plain, in slightly hilly shores. The river is picturesque, there are many good and beautiful places for tourist stops.
There are few villages on the banks. The bottom of the river is clayey in places, sandy in places. The river is low-water, by the end of June or by the beginning of July the water drops so much that even in a kayak it is not possible to pass through a number of sections. This circumstance limits the tourist value and the possibility of the river of Darkness, although it is picturesque and beautiful.
On Darkness, within the possible route, there are 4 dams, the exact location of which is unknown.
The route starts from the city of Vysokoye and ends in the city of Kalinin - 96 km (i.e. 80 km along the Tma River and 16 km along the Volga).
The route can be extended by going along the Volga below Kalinin to the city and Novo-Zavidovo station for another 70 km. On this route, the Volga is wide (up to 300 m) with a large number of sandbars, a wide meadow floodplain, which is interrupted by forests and copses.
Having passed the village of Lisitsy, where the tourist base “Lisitsky Bor” is located, the Volga expands noticeably, there are many sandy islands in the channel. Near the village of Vidigovo, the width of the Volga is 1.5 km, near the village of Gorki, 2 km. Here on the left bank there is a lot of forest, a good place for parking.
A little lower than the village of Sloboda, the Volga forms two branches: one of them, the northwestern (right along the way) leads to the Noginsk reservoir, and the second - southeastern - (the own channel of the Volga) leads to the Volga reservoir. These arms form a large island, on western end which has a bay and a wood - a possible place of parking. For tourists heading to Novo-Zavidovo, you need to sail along the right sleeve so that the island remains on the left. This shortens the path. To the west of this branch, the Noginsk reservoir begins - its eastern part. The dam (embankment) of the Leningrad highway will be visible on the horizon. You have to go under the bridge.
In front of the second earthen dam, along which the tracks of the Oktyabrskaya railway (crossing the entire Noginsk reservoir) are laid, the city of Novo-Zavidovo begins on the right bank. Entering the bay through the railway dam, you can get very close by water to the Novo-Zavidovo railway station.

The upper reaches of the Tvertsa River, after the completion of the construction of the Vyshnevolotsk water system, are connected by canals with the Tsna and Msta rivers. Tvertsa flows first a little to the east near the Osechenka station of the Oktyabrskaya railway, coming very close to the canvas, it turns south and flows in this direction for a long time. Somewhat south of the city of Torzhok, the Tvertsa River changes its direction to the east and thus flows to the city of Kalinin.

Having rounded Kalinin from the north and east, the Tvertsa flows into the Volga within the eastern part of the city. The length of the river is about 200 km. Tvertsa flows calmly along a wooded plain in relatively high and hilly banks, making wide loops.

On the banks of the river in the upper and middle reaches there is a lot of forest, few settlements. The shores and bottom are loamy with an admixture of pebbles and rubble. There are almost no sandbanks; in some places they appear only below the city of Torzhok. In some places there are small gravel rapids.

A significant population of the Tvertsa River and depletion of the banks with forests begins in its lower reaches after the intersection of Tvertsa with the Leningrad Highway (near Mednoe - 37 km to the mouth).

After the second railway bridge, when the river already enters the suburban area of Kalinin (the last 10 km) the shores are completely cleared of the forest, and the settlements follow one after the other.

Here on the river you can meet local boats serving the residents of the suburbs. But this circumstance should not overshadow the tourist - the finish line in the area of a large, especially a regional city in such conditions is common.

Pioneer camps and rest houses were located in many places on the Mednoe-Kalinin section among coniferous groves.

You can start the route from Vyshny Volochek, but the first 10-12 km it will be necessary to go partially along the canal within the city (you need to enclose one beyshlot), then move along the section of the Tvertsa River with very dirty and stagnant water. Therefore, it is better to start the route from the Osechenka station of the Oktyabrskaya railway, from which Tvertsa is no more than 1.5 km. On the river, the nearest village to the station is Tverestyanka.

There are several options for kayaking trips along the Tvertsa River.

A full route and two shortened ones, which can be completed on May Day holidays - 3-4 days.

Osechenka station (Tverestyanka village) - Kalinin city - about 175 km.
Osechenka station - city of Torzhok - 90 km.
The city of Torzhok - the city of Kalinin - 85 km.

Of the last two shortened routes, the first along the upper and middle reaches of the Tvertsa is more interesting, as it passes through the more picturesque and wooded part of the river.

If you start the route from the city of Vyshny Volochek, then the route is extended by 20 - 25 km.

To the starting points: the city of Vyshny Volochek, Osechenki station, the city of Torzhok, you should go by train along Oktyabrskaya railway.

From the river to the stations of the cities of Torzhok and Kalinin is quite far (4-5 km). You have to get there by car.

Rivers Orsha and Soz

These two small rivers are left tributaries of the Volga in the section between the Kalinin and the Ivankovskaya dam. The mouths of the Orsha and Soz rivers are significantly removed from each other. The mouth of the Orsha is located 2 km below Kalinin, and the mouth of the Sozi (after the construction of the dam flows into Volga reservoir) at 30 km from the Ivankovskaya dam. These rivers flow from the Orshinsky lakes: the Orsha from the Orshino lake and flows first in a westerly direction, and the Soz - from the Great Lake and flows to the southeast.

Lake Orshino is not connected by a channel with other lakes of the vast Orshinsky swamps - Svetly, Shchuch'y, Glubokie and Velikiy, which are interconnected by channels, but from the Orsha River, from its eastern bend towards Lake Svetloye, a drainage canal was dug, called Denisovsky by the name of the village, near which it departs from the Orsha River to the east.

This channel, however, does not reach Lake Svetloye - a jumper with a width of about 1.5 km(possibly due to the significant difference in water between the lake and the canal). Thus, having overcome this small portage, you can make the so-called Orshinsky round-the-world trip on a kayak. In the proposed route, the city of Kalinin can be taken as the starting point, and the city of Novo-Zavidovo as the final point.

This route provides for the passage of a small section of the Volga from Kalinin to the village of Orshino, overcoming Orsha (up the river) to the village of Denisovo, advancing along the Denisovsky Canal to its end, overcoming a portage 1.5 km from the canal to the first lake Svetloye, the passage of all 4 lakes from west to east, exit to the river Soz and down the river to the Volga reservoir.

Both at the beginning of the route and at the end, the following options are possible:

In the initial part of the route, you can exclude the advance along the Volga and up the Orsha, having reached from Kalinin to Denisov in a random car along a country road.

This option, however, is fraught with difficulties, both in finding a car and in driving along a country road with a length of about 25 km. It is also possible to go from the village of Denisovo along the Orsha River from the top (down the river), for which you should take a regular bus (usually overcrowded) from the Kalinina station to the village of Slavnoye, located on the Orsha River above the village of Denisovo.

It should be noted that the Orsha River from Slavny to Denisovo is shallow and passable only at high water (after a flood).

Route termination options are as follows:

after passing the mouth of the Sozi River, kayak along the Volga reservoir to the Ivankovskaya dam, that is, to the Bolshaya Volga station of the Savelovskaya railway;
passing the mouth of the Sozi - up the Volga reservoir to the Novo-Zavidovo station of the Oktyabrskaya railway;
having passed along the river Soz to the pier (it is located on Sozi above the mouth at 12 - 13 km from the reservoir) use a local boat and take it to the Ivankovskaya dam.

The most difficult section on the route is the transfer of kayaks across the dam to the old Denisov Canal, moving along this canal to its end, and dragging through the swampy forest to Lake Svetloye. In this area, keep the following in mind:

at about 1 km from the village of Denisovo, up the canal, there is a narrow-gauge railway bridge. Shortly after the bridge there is a convenient and dry place for overnight parking. They should be used, as further along the path there will be a swampy area up to Lake Svetloye. The wooded shores of the lake are dry and suitable for camping. Around 8 km from the village of Denisovo, the old Denisovsky canal begins, mating with the new one at an acute angle on the left along the way. The canal junction is marked by a two-meter-high waterfall (the bed of the old Denisovsky canal is higher than the new one). Here it is required to drag the kayaks over the dam dividing the channel;
for the first kilometer of the way, the old canal runs through a swampy meadow, the channel itself is heavily overgrown with sedge and shrubs (apparently it has not been cleared for a long time), it is difficult to advance kayaks, oars have to be used as poles. The channel is difficult to see, then when the channel enters the forest, its channel becomes more noticeable. IN summer months, apparently, the channel dries up;
when the kayaks reach the clearing of the former high-voltage power line along the canal, on which the masts have already been knocked down by time, here you need to go to the portage. You need to go north, according to the compass. There are many paths in the forest leading to Lake Svetloe, therefore, it is useful to send reconnaissance. Dragging through the swampy forest about 1.5 km.

You should move along Lake Svetloe along its eastern shore and carefully follow the channel. It should be in the northeast corner of the lake.

The channel is blocked by an earthen dam, through which a pipe for a spillway is passed. Therefore, the channel from the side of the lake is poorly visible. Here the dam is to be carried out in order to enter the channel leading to Lake Shchuchye. The channel is good, deep, but the banks are marshy, they cross swamps. The shores of Lake Shchuchye are swampy, however, on its northern shore, among the woods, there is a lonely hut. Here lives the watchman of peat extraction, here you can, in extreme cases, spend the night.

The channel to Lake Glubokoe is located in the northeastern corner of the lake and is easily found.

Lake Glubokoe is connected with Lake Velikie by two wide channels. It is necessary to move along the southern channel, for which you should keep to the southern shore of Lake Glubokoe. In front of the entrance to Lake Velikoye, on the left northern bank of the channel, there are good places for parking. There is a village there.

The southern shores of the Glubokoe and Velikoye lakes are swampy and open, the northern shores are dry and wooded, there are settlements there.

It is necessary to sail along the Great Lake along the southern shore, since the Soz River emerges from its southeastern corner. Soz is not very simple and easy to detect, it should be looked for among the coastal thickets of sedge and reeds. Soz River during the first 15 km(up to the bridge near the village of Bykovo), flows strongly winding among the swampy open area. There are no parking spaces. After the village of Yamki and Ilyino, the river enters the forests. Almost uninhabited forests stretch to the village of Kharitonovo (for 15 km). The river is winding and beautiful.

There are two earthen, easily passable dams on the Sozi River. In the village of Pervomaisky, there is a low bridge, and in 5 km below there is a pier, from where boats go to the Ivankovskaya dam. Already in front of the village of Popovsky, Soz expands greatly.

Route length:

City of Kalinin – city of Novo-Zavidovo – 200 km

of which along the Volga about 22 km

up the Orsha - 45 km

along the Denisovsky Canal - 12 km

on lakes and channels - 24 km

along the Sozi river to the village of Popovsky - 40 km

along the Sozi river to the village of Ustye - 14 km

Total to the Volga reservoir about - 157 km.

The end of the route is possible in three ways:

along the Volga reservoir to the Ivankovskaya dam - 30 km
up the Volga to the city of Novo-Zavidovo - 40 km
to the city of Konakovo about 15 km

It is also possible to finish the kayaking part of the route at the pier on the Sozi River and continue on the boat to the Ivankovskaya Dam (Bolshaya Volga station of the Savelovskaya Railway).

The way from the village of Denisovo to the pier on the Sozi River (85 - 90 km) pass in 4 days.

In the summer months, apparently, the Denisov Canal dries up and becomes very shallow. Almost already from the village of Denisovo, tourists in kayaks or boats are forced to start dragging, which is measured at 12-15 km.

Transport: Approach to the starting point - the city of Kalinin by electric train from the Leningradsky railway station.

Departure either by the Savelovskaya railway (from the Bolshaya Volga station) or by the Oktyabrskaya railway from the Konakovo or Novo-Zavidovo stations.

The Medveditsa River is a left tributary of the Volga, it originates northeast of the Spirovo Oktyabrskaya railway, flows, making large bends in a southeast direction to the mouth of its right tributary, the Kulaki.

Here Medveditsa changes its general direction to the east, makes a large bend to the north and, having taken the left tributary of the Yakhroma River, sharply turns almost to the south. The Medveditsa flows into the Volga between the cities of Kimry and Kalyazin. The length of the Bear is about 270 km.

Due to the difficult approaches to the river in its upper reaches (either there are no good roads, or there is no passenger traffic), it can be recommended to start the route from the village of Gorodok, which lies on the highway Kalinin - Straps. There is a regular bus service on this highway.

Near the village of Gorodok Medveditsa is already quite wide (15 - 20 m). It flows in hilly sandy-loamy shores, overgrown mainly with pine forests. There are no problems with parking spaces. There are few settlements along the coast. In the lower reaches, the river is very picturesque, there are many forests and beautiful corners on its banks.

In the very lower reaches (below the village of Malchikovo), the backwater of the Volga is affecting. In these places, the Bear gradually widens and floods its floodplain, reaching a width of several hundred meters.

In the lower reaches, the river is deep, approximately from the village of Upper Trinity to the mouth.

In the middle reaches from the beginning of the route (the village of Gorodok) to the village of Troitsa, the river quickly becomes shallow after the flood, and already in July sandbanks are exposed, which interfere with the normal progress of kayaks. In many places, kayaking without rowers is required.

There are two dams on the route:

the first in the area of the village of Medveditsa;
the second near the village of Upper Trinity (105 km from the beginning of the route).

The length of the section of the river from the village of Gorodok to the mouth - 165 km.

Transport: To the starting point - the village of Gorodok, you must first go by electric train to Kalinin (168 km), then by regular bus.

The route can end in three places (start from Gorodok village):

at the Sknyatino station of the Savelovskaya railway - 180 km.
near the city of Kimry (station of the Savelovskaya railway) - 210 km
near the city of Kalyazin Savelovskaya railway - 200 km

The Lama River, before the formation of the Volga reservoir (Ivankovsky), was a right tributary of the Shoshi River. Now the Lama flows into the Shoshinsky reservoir, which is an integral part of the Volga reservoir.

Lama originates southeast of the city of Volokolamsk, flows first in a northwest direction, and after the village of Yaropolets changes its direction to the northeast.

The total length of the Lama River is 150 km, for the passage of kayaks - 120 km. The Lama River, cutting through the western spurs of the Kalinin-Dmitrovsky ridge, first flows, winding strongly in a narrow treeless valley with high indented banks, heavily populated and built up.

In the upper course, up to the village of Tishkovo, the river is narrow no more than 3 - 4 m and shallow, littered with brushwood and replete with rifts.

After the village of Yaropolets, the river flows through a wider valley, but in high banks, framed by a mixed forest, which, however, comes close to the river.

The riverbed becomes less winding and the meanders are often broken by long junctions. The river becomes wide - 40 - 60 m.

After the right tributary of the Yauza River flows into the Lama (the village of Sentsovo), the river becomes wide - about 30 - 50 m, full-flowing, its waters flow calmly in high banks covered with forest. Boats go down from the village of Sentsovo along Lama.

In the lower reaches of the Lama, approximately from the village of Dor to the village of Sentsovo, mole spring timber rafting is carried out. Below the village of Sentsovo there is no rafting. On the rafting site at the bottom of the river there are driftwood.

In the upper reaches of the river from the Volokolamsk station to the Yaropolets station, there are no places for parking. On the section from Yaropolets to the village of Dor, places for overnight parking can be difficult to find. And only below the village of Dor (after the confluence of the right tributary - the Big Sister) - there are enough places for parking.

There are artificial obstacles on Lama:

A small dam near Volokolamsk station, the route should start downstream from the dam.
Numerous kadis on the section of the river from Volokolamsk station to the village of Tishkovo and two bridges with spans clogged with snags.
Three dams:

near the village of Smichka (factory named after Lenin), drift along the left bank;
outside the village of Yaropolets, surrounded by the right bank;
a dam between the villages of Shubino and Vlasovo, carried along the left bank.

After the dams, as a rule, the river is shallow, there are shallows.

Four zapans near the villages of Matyushkino, Maksimovo, Selenuchye and Sentsovo.

The first three zapanis, after the recession spring waters, are usually filled with forest and easily passable by flooding one of the links of the sapani. The last flood keeps the forest until later spring runoff, and in the month of May it is possible to find a molar forest before the flood at 800-1000 m.

The following routes are possible along the Lama River:

At big water(shortly after the flood or summer showers) the full route from the Volokolamsk station to the house of the buoy operator "Kabanovo", located already in the area of the Shoshinsky reservoir - 130 km.

In case of low water, a shortened route from the village of Smychka or from the village of Yaropolets, starting the route after the dams.

Route length:

from Smychka to Kabanovo - 105 km

from Yaropolets to Kabanovo - 90 km

All routes end in the zone of the Shoshinsky reservoir, the western part of which is dotted with numerous islands, shallow, and in summer it is heavily overgrown with reeds and sedge. After the village of Paveltsevo, you should keep to the fairway, fixed with buoys. In order not to stray from the right direction and not get on the fairway of the Shoshi River, you should always move in the northeast or east direction.

Transport: Entrances and exits: To the station Volokolamsk - by train. The Lama River flows at 500 m from the station.

At the beginning of the route from the village of Smychka or the village of Yaropolets, you need to get to these points by regular buses that go from the station to the city and from the city to the villages of Smychka or Yaropolets.

From the final point (the buoy-keeper's house "Kabanovo") you should walk on foot to the village of Kozlovo - 3 km. A regular bus runs from Kozlovo to the Zavidovo railway station of the Oktyabrskaya railway.

The kayak route can be completed a little further on Kabanova, near the village of Novo-Zavidovo. In front of the railway dam there is a bay, moving along which you can approach almost the Zavidovo station itself.

In this case, the water route is increased by 15 km and from the water to the station no more than 200 m.

The Dubna River is the right tributary of the Volga big river in the north of the Moscow region. Her length is 170 km. D at bna originates northeast of the city of Zagorsk in the spurs of the Klinsko-Dmitrovskaya ridge, flows in a northwesterly direction, making two large loops and changing direction from west to north and flowing into the Volga below the city of Dubna (below the Ivankovskaya dam).

The Dubna River is very peculiar and in a significant part, flowing through a long swampy lowland, resembles the Polesye rivers.

The journey can be started from the highway bridge north of the village of Chentsovo. Here the river is full-flowing and deep. First 5 - 6 km after the bridge, the river flows further in relatively high banks, below the city of Konstantinov, the river enters a vast swampy lowland and flows in a northerly direction (10 km) among the low banks. In a number of places the river is artificially straightened, resembling a canal. River wide 20 – 30 m and depth up to 1 m. The river has this character until the right tributary of the Suloti River flows into it, approximately for 15 - 17 km. Here parking is completely excluded.

Below the mouth of the Suloti, Dubna becomes more sinuous, but even here there are straight sections. The right bank is lower, swampy, more open, overgrown with willow along the water, the left bank is high, wooded. Among the alder and aspen, birch trunks turn white. After the confluence of the Suloth, the water in Dubna turns yellow, as the Suloth flows out of powerful swamps and carries waters tinted with humus. The river has such a view up to the village of Okemovo, for about another 15 - 17 km after the mouth of the Suloti River.

Below the village of Okemovo (which is not visible from the water), the banks of the river gradually rise, the swampiness disappears, the forest is thinned out, the river takes on an impressive appearance, the width is 30 - 40 m, depth of 2 or more meters. Below the village of Nushpoly (at about 9-10 m from Okemovo village) the banks become treeless. It is bad with firewood here, the places are not very attractive, it is better to pass them without stopping, especially since this area is not so large (6 - 8 km).

After the village of Sushchevo (from Nushpola about 9-10 km) Dubna flows in high sandy shores among the protected forest.

In a short section, the Dubna River receives three left tributaries: the Velya River, the Vetelka River and the Yakot River, of which the Velya River is a raftable river. Firewood is driven along it for a porcelain factory in the city of Verbilki. These places for almost 20 km are especially beautiful, and it is advisable to organize day trips here (especially closer to the mouth of the Yakot River). There are also many good places for swimming.

In the area of the city of Verbilki, the banks are bare. Below the Verbilki in Dubna, there are shoals and rifts. In the channel in some places there are boulders and powerful thickets of reeds and sedges, and the banks in places with boulders and pebble inclusions.

In the lower reaches of Dubna, there are islands in the channel, but there are few good places for parking.

Artificial obstacles on the Dubna River:

Old destroyed dam, about 3 km below the highway bridge near the village of Chentsy, a run-off is required.
Remains of piles of the old bridge in front of the existing new bridge near the village of Konstantinovka.
Zapan outside the city of Verbilki at the porcelain factory, a portage is required.
Old piles under the railway bridge of the Savelovskaya railway.
A dam with a central weir (passable with caution and a preliminary survey - there may be stuck wood and driftwood in the weir). Dam in 1 km from the railway bridge.
Destroyed dam near the village of Glinki, about 6 km below the railway bridge, carry-out along the right bank (50 m).

Natural obstacles on the Dubna River:

Several sandbanks in the riverbed below the city of Konstantinov, they appear during low water in the second half of summer.
Rocky shoal in front of the town of Verbilki.
Between the sinkhole near the porcelain factory and the railway bridge of the Savelovskaya road there is an extended rocky rift with large boulders in the river. The current is weak. At low water, the rift is not passable, the wiring is along the left bank.
Below both dams there are shallow areas and rubble rifts.
3a village Tarusovo (10 km below the railway bridge) is a large sand and gravel, heavily overgrown with reeds and sedge shallows.
Opposite the village of Starikovo (7 km above the mouth of the Sestra, the left tributary of the Dubna) - a large rocky rift.

In high water, all the rifts are hidden under water.

From the village of Fedortsevo, located on the Sulot River, to the city of Verbilka - 65 km, (of which about 9 - 10 km). There is a small dam on the Suloti River between the lake and the mouth.
With high water (end of April - beginning of May), the route from the city of Verbilki to the Tekhnika station on the railway line Dubna - Verbilki - 45 km. In this case, having reached the Dubna until the left tributary of the Sestra flows into it, you need to climb up the Sestra until it is crossed by the channel named after. Moscow (about - 3 km).
From the village of Chentsy to Verbilki - 85 km or from the village of Chentsy to the station Technika - 130 km(not forgetting, however, the swampiness of the shores in the Konstantinovo-Okaemovo section). Starting the route from the village of Chentsy, you should diversify it by entering Lake Zabolotskoye (up the Suloti about 4 km), which is an example of a relict landscape of the ancient geological era. There is a lot of game on the lake, and there are beavers in the Suloti River. The lake is overgrowing.

Transport: From the Yaroslavsky railway station to Zagorsk by train, then by regular bus or to the Dubna River (beyond the village of Chentsy), or to the village of Fedortsevo. The length of the bus route to the Dubna River is 28 km, to the village of Fedortsevo - 45 km.

Departure from the Verbilki station and from the Technika station by train along the Savelovskaya railway. In both cases, approaches to the station from the water are about 1 km.

The Nerl River is the right tributary of the Volga, flows out of Lake Somino and flows in a northwestern direction, first in wetlands, and then after the village of Kopnino in hilly, very picturesque, forested banks and flows into the Volga below the city of Kalyazin. River length - 110 km.

The Nerl is very winding in its upper reaches, gradually straightens to the mouth, becomes full-flowing, and below the Nerl village the river becomes navigable.

The upper reaches of the river are sparsely populated, however, after the village of Svyatovo, the number of settlements increases greatly.

Since the river enters the forest zone after the village of Kopnino, convenient places for overnight stays can be easily found among the picturesque nature.

On the river below the village of Svyatovo, as well as below the village of Grigorovo, there are numerous sandy-stony shoals and rifts, which stretch in a chain for 2-4 km. On the rifts, the speed of the river reaches 6 km at one o'clock.

Lake Somino, elongated in shape, from which the Nerl flows, is connected to Pleshcheevo Lake by the Veksa River, about 3 km. The shores of the lake and the Veksa river are swamped, there are several stabs on the Veksa river, and in some places the river is littered with snags.

Lake Pleshcheyevo is somewhat elongated in shape, has a maximum length of about 10 km, and the width is about 8 km. The eastern shores of the lake are gently sloping, partially swampy and treeless. Western, northwestern and northern - wooded. The lake is very shallow in the southeastern part, reaching a depth of 25 cm in the northwestern part. Because the lake is open on most sides and exposed to winds, the lake often experiences heavy seas.

The Veksa River flows out of the northwestern section of the lake.

At the source of the Veksa there is a farm - it can serve as a guide.

It is better to bypass Lake Pleshcheyevo along the eastern shore, moving to the source of the Veksa River from Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. The source of the Vexa is more easily detected when approaching it from the east. In addition, after the village of Kriushkino, there are good wooded places for overnight stay.

This is important to keep in mind, given the swampiness of the banks of the Vexa, Lake Somino and the sources of the Nerl.

The route starts from the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, which stands on the shore of Lake Pleshcheeva at the confluence of the Trubezh River and the first kilometers of the route pass along the Trubezh River. Further, the path follows the eastern shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo (12 km), then along the river Veksa (12 km), then along Lake Somino (3 km) and, finally, along the Nerl River.

You can end the route either at the mouth of the Nerl River near the Sknyatino station of the Savelovskaya railway or in the city of Kalyazin, having reached the mouth of the Nerl, to the city along the Volga - 30 km.

The length of the route from Pereslavl-Zalessky to Sknyatino is about 140 km, and to the city of Kalyazin - about 170 km.

There are artificial obstacles on the route:

A spillway bridge on the Veksa River a little below the city of Usolye (not reaching Lake Somino).
A dam on the Nerl River below the village of Komnino.
A bridge with a roll near the village of Svyatovo, you have to pass on the left under the second span.
A dam and a mill below the village of Grigorovo. Drift along the right bank.
In the summer months, the Nerl River becomes very shallow and overgrown, so in July - August and in dry summers it is impossible to travel along it.

Transport: To the starting point - the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, get by train along the Yaroslavl railway to the Berendeevo station (140 km) then by regular bus to the city (21 km). Return from the final destination - Sknyatino station or from the city of Kalyazin by train along the Savelovskaya railway.

A water trip is also possible along the considerable length of the left tributary of the Nerl - the Kubr River, with an exit then at the village of Grigorovo to the Nerl.

The journey should start from the village of Novaya, located on the Yaroslavl highway on the 46th km from the city of Zagorsk.

The length of the route from the village of Novaya along the Kubr River and along the lower reaches of the Nerl to Sknyatino station is about 140 km, of which along the Kubr River about 65-70 km. In length, it is equal to the route along the Nerl and lakes from Pereslavl-Zalessky.

The Kubr River flows first in the flat banks, and then in the hilly ones. There is a lot of forest on the banks, there are places for parking. There are many boulders in the channel of the Kubr River. Kubr can be passed only in high water, in the summer this river is not passable.

On the river Kubr, during its 65 km many dams (6-8 pieces).