Sochi. Agursky waterfalls and Eagle rocks.

Today I want to tell you about a place where many people go, but, strangely enough, there is little reliable and detailed information about it on the Internet, and even fewer beautiful photos, it is not clear why. This place is located in Sochi, within the boundaries of "greater Sochi" - the Agura River valley, Agur waterfalls and Eagle rocks.

In fact, this place is part of the Sochi Nature Reserve, located between two points - Old Matsesta on one side and the Sputnik Hotel on the other. Accordingly, you can get here in two ways - from the Sputnik stop, to which many buses go to Sochi, going along the sea between Sochi and Adler, and from the Old Matsesta stop, which can be reached by bus number 3.

From Sputnik, you need to go straight towards the mountains, along the road, without crossing the river on the bridge near which the bus stopped. It is close to the entrance to the reserve - only 15 minutes on foot and you will need to walk along a flat road. Probably because of this, most people recommend going from here.

On the way you will come across the so-called "Vysochkogo Polyana", where his monument stands. This is a sign that you are on the right path. It is easy to go from Sputnik, as you are walking along the Agura River, which will always be on your right hand.

From "Old Matsesta" it is longer and more difficult to walk. You need to cross the bridge over the Matsesta River, after which, after about 5 minutes of walking, you will come across a monumental sign "Eagle Rocks". From there, the road leads to where you need to go. But it is long, about 5 kilometers, and it goes up, and its last section goes very steeply up to the gates of the reserve.

I myself went from below, from "Sputnik", but I would recommend everyone to do the opposite - go from above, from the gates of the reserve on the Eagle Rocks. No matter how you go, you will not stray from the path, since there is only one, and only at the confluence of the Agura and Agurchik rivers you can leave it (which you should not do), but more on that later.

The road to the upper gate is quite picturesque, but overall, you won't lose anything by skipping it. So my advice to you is to take a taxi to the upper entrance to the route, and then go down to the Agura bed and then along the bed itself, after which you will come out to "Sputnik". This will make your journey much easier.

However, do not think that it will be very easy. For unprepared people it will still be a test. Therefore, no matter how you walk, you need normal sneakers, with a non-slip sole. You also need water, at least half a liter per person, and better one and a half, if you are going in the heat. Do not neglect either one, the route even down, for a city dweller of the flat part of Russia is quite difficult. And you should not go there when it is wet.

So, I will begin the description of my hike, which I made from the lowest point - the entrance to the reserve near the "Sputnik" stop.

The first cascade of waterfalls is a very picturesque place. Unfortunately, I was there in the morning, and therefore it was all in the shade, as the sun shines from the mountains. This is another reason to go in the other direction, then you will approach the cascades in the afternoon.

But even so, the place is very beautiful!

The Agura is a river without a source. It is fed entirely by rain, so it is "normal" for it to dry up. After rain, it can be very, very stormy. I was lucky, it was average - not stormy but not dry either, it is like this a week or two after heavy rains, when everything has dried out, but has not yet had time to dry out.

From the first cascade to the second there is an almost horizontal path. A very simple section of the path, going along the Agura stream flowing below. There is a tree here, under which everyone takes pictures.

The second cascade of waterfalls is a gathering place for tourists. Tour groups come here and then return back.

Many people swim here. The place is also beautiful, but to take good pictures you have to enter the river and walk to its middle, which is what I did.

The descent to the river itself is quite “tricky” here – it is short, just a few steps, but at the same time quite dangerous.

There is also a small cafe here. You can sit down and have a snack, listening to the sound of the waterfall. In general, the place is pleasant in all respects. We got here together with my dad, who did not go further. And I decided that I would go higher, taking a last look at the second cascade of the Agursky waterfalls.

Then everything changes dramatically. Here they don't look after the road as they do on the first two cascades. There are fewer people, it's harder to walk, but the road itself is quite picturesque.

The ladders that you come across here are not very reliable. But in general, you can go forward. By the way, there are no excursions here anymore, although they used to, now those selling tickets will tell you that the path between the second cascade and the Eagle Rocks is overgrown and you can't go along it. They are blatantly lying, you can go along it.

After several turns of the serpentine path, you will come to the third cascade. Unlike the first two, you cannot approach it, you can only admire it "from the other side", for this there is a tiny observation deck.

After which the path goes higher and comes to the source of the third cascade.

Here you can admire where Agura actually begins its fall into the valley below.

Then you have to walk some distance more almost horizontally, along the river. Here you will find beautiful views of a calm river flowing through a forest in the mountains.

And finally you will come to the place where Agura is joined by its tributary, Agurchik. You can drink water from Agurchik, as it does not flow through populated areas. So if you are dying of thirst by this point, here is your chance to help yourself. I drank a whole liter of water from Agurchik and it did not cause any negative consequences for me.

You can walk around here a bit. But keep in mind that the road that runs along the power line does not lead "to civilization" and every summer rescuers search for people who have gone into the forest from here in search of an easy way to civilization. So don't go far.

But the path that leads “to civilization” is marked here with a sign “Eagle Rocks 800M”.

The path looks like this. It barely looks like a path, but that's what it is.

Keep in mind that these 800 meters are the hardest part of the whole route. Technically, if you don't have slippery shoes, it's not difficult, but walking on these rocks turned out to be very, very difficult.

But on the other hand, you are essentially walking along the very edge of the cliff, and you are treated to magnificent views!

Here I wanted to shoot and shoot and shoot.

The people walking down from above looked at me with pity and suggested turning back, saying that even they were tired, let alone me! Three times it seemed to me that here it was, the summit, but only the third time it turned out to be so, and… I came out to a cafe. Yes, yes, you walk and walk through some wilderness and then bam – and there’s a cafe. And there were a lot of people in it and even more wild wasps.

There are several viewing platforms here with views in all directions.

And here is the famous statue of Prometheus, because according to legend it was here that he was chained and an eagle flew to him to peck out his liver. I saw this statue in a photo and thought it was huge, but it turned out that no, it is slightly larger than a man.

And this is another reason to start the journey from Matsesta. If you are here in the morning, Prometheus will be illuminated by the sun.

Then a very picturesque descent begins. Well, for me it would be a descent, but if you are going from here, then for you it will be an ascent, but, believe me, it does not compare with the path from Agurchik up.

The descent brought me to the gates of the reserve, located on the side of Old Matsesta. The entire journey took me, together with all the significant stops, about 6-7 hours. My legs, not at all accustomed to the mountains, ached and asked for mercy, but there were still about 4 kilometers of the way ahead, and at first there was such a steep descent that I had to go along the road in zigzags to reduce this slope.

However, this did not prevent me from having a lot of fun on this hike, even though I chose the wrong direction. And no, it is not about “overcoming myself”, I do not get masochistic pleasure from such things. The thing is that the whole way is very beautiful, and I managed to take many good photos, which I shared with you. The rest of the photos can be seen here.

If you are on holiday in Sochi, do not deprive yourself of the pleasure of walking along this route - it is easy to get here and it is very beautiful! And in no case should you take a bus tour - as usual, you will not see the most beautiful. On which let me finish the story about this wonderful place.