Khvalynsky National Park is located in the north-east of the Saratov Region, on the highest mountains in the region. It was created in 1994. This was preceded by the hard work of Russian scientists for two centuries. These places have always attracted researchers with their uniqueness. In 2011, the Saratovsky Reserve was attached to the park. Everything is amazing here - from picturesque landscapes to purple bees.
The area of the park is 25 514 ha. It is divided into three zones - recreational, with an area of 3.5 thousand hectares, a reserved (1.5 thousand hectares) and a zone of economic use. It occupies 20 514 hectares.
Relief
Khvalynsky National Park is located on a high plateau (200-300 m above sea level). The relief is rugged, elevated, wavy-hilly. It is crossed by numerous beams and ravines. The Volga River is its natural border in the east, northwest and north. The park borders on the Samara Region; in the south it is bordered by the Volsky District. In these places the Volga is especially deep (22.5 m). The flow rate is small.
Climate
In this region, the climate is sharply continental with significant annual and daily fluctuations in air temperature. In January, the average air temperature is minus 13 degrees, in July - plus 21.
Plants of the Khvalynsky National Park
This area is characterized by a huge variety of vegetation. Khvalynsky National Park (Saratov Region) is characterized by the presence of pine forests at the outcrops of chalk, on tertiary sands, and oak groves on gray soils. A characteristic feature of the park’s forests is the existence of “Cretaceous” pine forests. Chalk pine is a relic, endemic and natural monument of the region at the same time.
Khvalynsky National Park has on its territory 21 species of plants that are relics and endemic. All of them are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. This is a solyanka-like wormwood, sweet-scented levok, thin-leaved peony, Volga cinquefoil, several species of feather grass.
Relic plants include horsetail (wintering and field), ferns. Its rare species grow here. There is a lanceolate-combed dogrose and a female coder. The relics also include a coniferous dwarf coniferous and common pine. The Venus slipper is included in the international Red Book
Animals of the Khvalynsky National Park
The fauna is no less diverse. Sixteen insect species included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation are registered here.
Herpetofauna
This group includes 15 species of reptiles and amphibians, which belong to 12 genera and 10 families. This is 68.2% of the herpetofauna of the entire Saratov region.
Reptiles are represented by the viper Nikolsky, which is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, a fragile spindle, an ordinary copperfish and a steppe viper.
Birds
The Khvalynsky National Park is especially rich in birds. At this time, up to 165 species of birds live in this protected area. For 113 of them, this place became their home, where they breed.
Nesting species include many passerines. In the structure of ornithocomplexes of the park, a significant place is occupied by birds of prey. Throughout the territory you can meet the common buzzard, the common kestrel, the blackfin, the black kite, the cheglock. In the floodplain of the Tereshka River, there is a swamp moon. Sparrowhawk and goshawk live in forest areas. Several permanent nests of the white-tailed eagle have been recorded. Each year, a burial ground is registered at the nesting site in the park, occasionally a golden eagle, it is assumed that offspring and osprey are raised here.
In the protected area you can see beaver, hare, fox, badger, wolf, forest and steppe ferret and other animals. It should be noted the high population density of the marmot, which is the main food of the burial ground.
Conservation and environmental protection measures
Khvalynsky National Park conducts a large health-improving work. It regularly conducts felling of damaged and dead forest areas, cleaning them from pollution. Such work is carried out by carrying out clear or selective sanitary felling, primarily in those areas of the forest where there is a high risk of fires and excessive reproduction of insects.
Reforestation
These works include: creating healthy and sustainable forest crops to transform the open landscape into a semi-open, or closed. This allows you to create plantings characterized by high aesthetic, sanitary and hygienic properties and high resistance. Young and healthy trees are immediately planted in the cut areas. Planting material is two-year-old pine seedlings.
Animal welfare
Khvalynsky National Park has a number of priority tasks. The most important of them is the protection of the animal world. Every year, biotechnological events are held here that improve the quality of the land and increase the number of animals. New fertilizing pads are regularly repaired and manufactured, work is underway to prevent the death of animals. Constantly kept records of the distribution and number of large ungulate animals. Khvalynsky National Park is a protected area where hunting is completely prohibited. Only recreational fishing is allowed.
Relaxation
The park has twelve ecological trails. A walk through each of them lasts about three hours. Many people come here on weekends. But you should prepare for such a trip, in any case, you need to take food with you, since there is no cafe in the reserve. There is only a teahouse offering aromatic herbal tea.
For the night you can stay in the guest house. It has just two family-friendly rooms. There is a parking lot, kitchen, shower. The cost of visiting the park is 600 rubles per person.