The municipality of the resort city of Sochi or Greater Sochi for a visitor looks like a maze. The territory grows in length, since the mountains, which practically "come" from the sea, do not allow to expand in breadth. Locals call their agglomeration "polycentric." Inside the city there are many settlements with their own names, but in fact all this is the territory of the city, with an area 1.5 times the size of the capital of Russia.
The city has only 4 districts:
- Central;
- Lazarevsky;
- Adler;
- Khostinsky.
All of them are different in atmosphere and prices, resorts and development prospects. There are many remarkable places and waterfalls in the vicinity of Greater Sochi.
general description
Waterfall Dragon's Mouth is a tourist, advertising name. The correct place name is Deep Yar. The waterfall really resembles the mouth of a magical creature.
The waterfall is considered the highest in the vicinity of the city. Its distinguishing feature is that it is double. Behind the first stream of water is a cave, inside which there is another stream. This is a unique phenomenon, rarely when a river bifurcates its waters into two streams. In the place where the cave is located, the underground river Glubokiy Yar reaches the surface of the earth, in the world such sources are called voklyuzami. The waterfall is located at an altitude of 265 meters above sea level.
The first researchers of the mouth of the Dragon and the cave were a group of cavers working under the direction of V. Ilyukhin, who died in one of the expeditions in Abkhazia. Studies were conducted from 1969 to 1970. Subsequently, the cave was studied by other groups from 1989 to 1992. Scientists come here to this day. Cavers managed to pass only 3 siphons with a depth of 24 to 34 meters. Once in the 4 siphon, the researchers were able to descend only to a depth of 54 meters.
The stream of water that descends in the cave is 42 meters. The thinnest trickle of water falls down, no thicker than the jet from a household tap. Inside the cave is an 18-meter waterfall and a 10-meter waterfall. In extreme heat, the waterfall dries up.
On the way to the cave
To get to the mouth of the Dragon’s mouth, you need to go along the Krasnaya Polyana highway to the village of the same name. Having arrived in the village, you need to turn onto an asphalt road and get to the bridge called Mzymtu. After the bridge, you will enter the territory of the Sochi National Park.
Further drive by car does not work, you have to walk. The trail runs through the forest, where boxwood and beech trees grow, and dense thickets are found. If this is a spring trip to the Dragon's Maw waterfall, then in the forest you can see primroses, Voronov's snowdrops and cyclamens. You need to go about 1 km.
The trail leads tourists to the gorge - a picturesque stone bag appears in front of the gaze. On the stones, ivy grows with leaves and lashes of dark green color, and against the background of white calcareous stones, the plant looks very impressive. In a stone bag, even on the hottest day it is always cool. It is here that the entrance to the cave is located.
Cave
The cave of the waterfall Dragon's mouth in Sochi has a volume of about 4,000 cubic meters. Inside there are many passages with a length of more than 1 km. It is believed that caves with springs are a very rare occurrence, but in the vicinity of the city there are as many as five.
The cave morphogenesis confirms its corrosion-erosion origin, that is, it appeared not only as a result of the destruction of limestone rocks, but also as a result of mechanical destruction. It is precisely established that it is located in the zone of tectonic disturbance, in fact, in the place where rocks are destroyed and crushed. These processes are conditions for the formation of underground karst cavities.
Behind the first waterfall there are several more cascades of small size, but you can climb to them only using special equipment.
Lake
Inside the cave there is a small lake, more precisely, a water hole with a depth of not more than 3 meters. The water temperature is stable, varies depending on the season, fluctuates between + 5-10 ° C. Expenses at low water average 150-200 liters per second. In the gallery inside the cave there is a lake, which is 15 meters long, 4-5 meters wide.
Itinerary
How to get to the waterfall Dragon's mouth? After the construction of the Krasnopolyanskoye highway was completed, one option remained - only on foot. Location coordinates: latitude: 43.582287, longitude: 40.013323.
First you need to walk to the AhTsu site, which is set to explore local attractions. A fork begins in front of the site: turn right and follow the signs.
The track is paved to the old iron bridge. At the bridge, turn right again and walk about 2 km to the place where the Glubokiy Yar River flows into Mzymta.
It should be remembered that in the early spring or winter, after snow and rains, the level of the Glubokiy Yar River rises strongly, so it will not work to ford, as tourists do in the summer.
Across the river, an iron bridge and specially equipped stairs are visible. Literally after 20 minutes of lifting, tourists fall into place.
You can choose another way - get off the bus number 135 at the sign "Dragon's mouth", go down to the river Mzymta and cross the cable bridge.