502752551
Forest; Photography; Pine Tree; Pine Woodland; Asia; Beauty In Nature; Krasnoyarsk Pillars; Landscape; Larch Tree; Outdoors; Taiga; Green; Green Color; Nature; Rock; Rock - Object; Russia; Scenics; Siberia; Tree; Horizontal; No People; State Nature Reserve; Stolby; Stone; Stone - Object; Summer;
Rock in the forest in Krasnoyarsk Pillars (State Nature Reserve Stolby), Siberia, Russia

©klug-photo/Getty Images

Stolby Nature Reserve

Top choice


Russia's most visited national park is located right across the river from Krasnoyarsk's city centre. Its highlight are the fingers of volcanic rock called stolby poking above gently sloping wooded mountains. To reach the most spectacular of them (as well as the newly opened visitors centre), follow the track (7km long) near Hotel Snezhnaya Dolina (bus 50). Alternatively, you can take the year-round chairlift (Фуникулёр; R250) at Bobrovy Log Ski Resort and hike about the same distance through the park.

New paths and steps mean going it alone is not the daredevil experience it once was, but English-language tours with SibTourGuide are a much more pleasant and entertaining affair. Be aware that infected ticks are dangerous between May and July, and tick protection or predeparture encephalitis jabs are essential at this time.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Roev Ruchey Zoo

0.49 MILES

Take bus 50 or 50A to this animal-friendly zoo near the Bobrovy Log Ski Resort to see numerous Siberian species.

2. Revolution Square

5.33 MILES

The city's vast central square showcases Soviet-era architectural classics in all their Stalinist glory – complete with colonnaded government buildings…

3. Surikov Museum-Estate

5.69 MILES

The Surikov Museum-Estate preserves the house, sheds and vegetable patch of 19th-century painter Vasily Surikov (1848–1916). The heavy-gated garden forms…

4. Regional Museum

5.9 MILES

Housed in an incongruously attractive 1912 art nouveau Egyptian temple, this is one of Siberia’s better museums. Arranged around a Cossack explorer’s ship…

5. Literature Museum

6.13 MILES

Occupying a glorious 1911 merchant’s mansion, this wonderfully restored museum highlights various aspects of Siberian life that inspired authors who wrote…

6. Intercession Cathedral

6.19 MILES

This pleasingly small old church dating from 1795 has an interior of unusually glossed and intricately moulded stucco framing haloed saints.

7. Surikov Art Museum

6.29 MILES

The cute Surikov Art Museum displays works by Russian 19th-century artist Ivan Surikov and his contemporaries. Its affiliate at ul Mira 12 houses a small…

8. Chapel of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa

6.32 MILES

For some spectacular city views, climb Karaulnaya Hill (there's no bus) to the little chapel that features on the Russian 10-rouble banknote (now slowly…