There is a canyon in Russia, the depth of which is greater than the depth of Lake Baikal. But unlike the world famous lake about the canyon, they know much less, even in Russia itself. There are several reasons, but in general, these places can still be considered poorly adapted for tourism. Which in a way makes them even more interesting.
Sulak canyon is one of the most famous tourist mountainous Dagestan. It is located in the eastern part of the republic and stretches as much as 53 km - from the Gimrinsky ridge to the Chiryurt reservoir. It is here that the greatest depth of the canyon is recorded - 1920 meters (it is believed that Baikal in the deepest place reaches a depth of 1,642 meters).
Another interesting comparison is with the world famous Grand Canyon in the US state of Colorado, which in some places has a depth of 1,600 meters. There are also deeper canyons, but Sulaksky is definitely in the world top 10 for this parameter.
Of course, the Sulak River, flowing along the bottom of this canyon, adds beauty - it starts on the northern slopes of the Main Caucasian Range and flows into the Caspian Sea. Its length is 169 km, but it is often considered together with the Andian Koisu River - then it turns out to be 336 km.
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The Sulak River was also called Koisu more than a hundred years ago, which is translated from the Kumyk language as “Sheep Waters”. But Sulak is a word from the Avar language and it is believed that it means "all together", that is, the river into which the other rivers merge. In fact, it is so - Sulak begins where the Andean Koisu and Avar Koisu rivers converge, each of which also collects many mountain rivers in its course.
Of course, tourists visit these places. Moreover, getting here is not so difficult if you suddenly have already reached or swam to the city of Makhachkala. Even public transport travels to various places in the canyon from the capital of Dagestan - for example, going to the Cheryurt reservoir and the city of Kizilyurt. Special excursions are also organized. You can also get to the Chirkeyskaya hydroelectric power station. By the way, there is a whole cascade of hydroelectric power stations on the Sulak River.
It is clear that with a length of more than fifty kilometers, there simply cannot be the only place from where you can see the canyon. Formally, the canyon is generally divided into 3 different ones - the Sulak canyon itself, as well as the Chirkei and Miatlinsky canyons. The last two are also worth seeing, but the first is considered the main and most interesting one.
But what is important to know is that there are still no safe observation points specially equipped for tourists. Arriving, you really find yourself mostly in wild untouched places, the flip side of this medal is precisely the lack of comfort, centralized service, hotels, etc. There are also known cases of the death of tourists who fell off the rocks - so when visiting the Sulak canyon, you need to be extremely careful.
