There are many picturesque, mesmerizing, fabulous places and corners of nature in Crimea. In any part of the peninsula, in any city or suburb you can see another miracle of nature, a manifestation of its boundless imagination and beauty. The valley of the Uzen-Bash River, where you can admire a unique natural phenomenon, is rightly considered to be one of such places.
This unique phenomenon is Golovkinsky waterfall, which is not just a waterfall, but a whole system of cascades hidden in the depths of a dense protected beech forest. Waterfall is a common, but not quite accurately reflecting the appearance of this natural wonder. For the first time this system of cascades was discovered by hydrologist N.A. Golovkinsky, in whose honor the attraction was later named. However, not only tourists, but also many locals do not know about this beauty and have never even heard of it. And the reason for this is the fact that the waterfalls are hidden in the wild and inaccessible area of Krymskiy Nature Reserve.
The discoverer of the waterfalls in the Yaman-Dere Gorge at the foot of Mount Babugan, describing his discovery, compared it to the more famous Jur-Dzhur waterfall, saying that this striking sight is no less amazing and beautiful. No less pleasure, as Golovkinsky wrote, is the walk through the dense shady beech forest with an abundance of springs, many of which are rich in minerals and are considered curative.
The ancient «Romanov Road», laid in the XIX century for the royal family along an even older route from the fortress of Mount Kastel to the Foothills and river valleys, leads to a picturesque area, the first time you see it, no one can restrain your admiration. Between the tall trunks of beech trees from a wide threshold and twelve-meter high white foamy stream rushes down the waters of the river Uzen-Bash. This is the Golovkinsky waterfall. This waterfall is most picturesque in spring, when melt water filling its bed makes the stream even more powerful.
Golovkinsky Waterfall is the lowest point of a whole system of cascades, down which the river descends. If you climb 200 meters above the waterfall, you can enjoy an amazing spectacle: streams flowing out of the bowels of Babugan, merging to form a wide stream flowing down eight huge natural terraces — the height difference here is about 30 meters! The huge water staircase seems to be a real miracle, is a mesmerizing spectacle that will be remembered for a lifetime and will make you return to this corner of the Crimea more than once.
In the system of cascades, the waters of the Uzen-Bash River fall down steps from 4 to 12 meters high. Golovkinsky Waterfall is the highest of these cascades. And not far from this miracle of nature in the gorge there is another one — the only grove of hanging birch in the Crimea, a natural monument to the glacial era.
Golovkinsky said that not all natural attractions of Crimea can compete with the beauty of the Uzen-Bash river valley. Therefore, when traveling to the southern coast of the peninsula, be sure to take time to visit this alushta attraction — amazing and unique in its kind.