Cascade of waterfalls on the Shinok River

The objectives of the reserve are: protection of the natural habitats of animals and plants of the forest and wetland complex, preservation of the group of waterfalls and the surrounding scenic landscapes , preservation of the unspoiled nature in the natural state.

The reserve's area is 10,200 ha, of which 6845 ha are forested. The center of the territory has geographical coordinates 51 ° 20'30 ″ s. w. 84 ° 17′30 ″ c. The territory occupies the most elevated part of the Bashchelak Range , the elevation difference is from 800 to 2300 m above sea level. The site includes a watershed plateau in the headwaters of the Shchepet , Bashchelak , and Chapsha rivers, which have absolute elevations of 1900–2000 m above sea level; individual peaks reach a height of 2100-2300 m.

The status of a comprehensive reserve was obtained in 1999, and a natural monument in 2000.

The territory of the reserve belongs to moderately cool, most humid mountain climatic regions. For the forest belt (800–1600 m above sea level), the average annual temperature is +1.5–2 ° С. The frost-free period lasts about 60 days. The period of active vegetation of plants is about 120 days. The average annual rainfall exceeds 800 mm, most of which falls on the warm period (April - October). Snow cover in the forest belt is established in early October, lasts until the beginning of May, that is, more than 200 days a year, its average height is 40-50 cm. In the alpine zone, snowfields and summer snowfalls are not uncommon. In the Shchepet and Shinka basins, thunderstorms are frequent in summer.

The Shinok River , a tributary of Anui , originates on a swampy plateau on the border of the Soloneshensky district of Altai Krai and the Ust-Kansky district of the Altai Republic . Mineralization of water is about 400 mg / l, the hardness indicator is 6 mEq. / L. Anions predominate in the chemical composition of water.

Translated from the Altai Shinok - “steep”, “impregnable”. The name of the river is due to the fact that a significant part of the river valley passes through a canyon with high, inaccessible cliffs. Waterfalls were recorded on the Shinok River: Sedoy (70 m). Below the waterfall bath of the Great Falls begins a cascade, which should be considered another waterfall called Steps. Next are the Rassypnaya waterfalls, it is indicated on a map on a scale of 1: 100000 with a designation of its height of 25 m and Skaty (Gorka). Since the slope of the falling water is 30 ° on it, this object should be called a pond (waterfalls include those areas where the water drop is at least 45 °). Its height is usually determined at 8-10 m, but it does not take into account that the pond has two steps. Their total difference is 19 m. ^[1]

Above the 70-meter waterfall there is a gorge that is inaccessible and rarely visited by tourists, in which there are 6 more waterfalls with a height of 2 to 6 meters ^[2] .

There is still some confusion over the names of the waterfalls. Tourists who visited the cascade of waterfalls before creating tourist routes on the river with the appropriate infrastructure, unknowingly or among themselves, gave their names to the waterfalls. So they began to call the Gray-haired Big, Giraffe, Silver, Beard, Hidden; Loose - Yogi, Double Jump Waterfall, Stingrays - Trampoline, Affectionate mirage. These names subsequently fell into various tourist guides, which served as their distribution.

In the valley of the river. The following species of rare and protected animals are represented in shinok: peregrine falcon , two-tone leather , golden eagle , spotted skate , partridge , otter , wild deer , roe deer , wild boar , musk deer , Altai sable , squirrel , polecat , lynx , red fox , hare , elk , mink and others. Of the fish - taimen , grayling , burbot .

Forest reserve, subalpine and alpine-tundra vegetation zones are represented on the territory of the reserve.

The following plants grow: yellow beetle , hybrid peony , real slipper , Siberian kandyk , Steller cryptogram.

Total in the valley of the river. The tire contains 233 species of plants listed in the Red Book of Altai Territory, 100 species of mammals, more than 300 species of birds, 7 species of reptiles , 7 species of amphibians .

Waterfalls on the Shinok River gained fame at the turn of the 19th — 20th centuries. Currently, they are an important object of ecological tourism. In winter, on frozen waterfalls, they train and compete in extreme sports - ice climbing ^[2] .

The popularity of the cascade is facilitated by its proximity to another monument of history and nature - Denisova Cave .

• Waterfalls on the Shinok River
• Soloneshensky district: Essays on history and culture: Sat. scientific and practical. Materials / Scientific. Ed T.K.Shcheglova. - Barnaul: Publishing House of BSPU, 2004 .-- 532 p.: Ill.
• Information on a specially protected natural area on the Altai Territory website