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Pictures of Karabi Plateau, Crimea

Karabi Yayla (or Plateau) is the largest and most remote mountain plateau in Crimea. It is covered with caves and is a favorite destination for spelunkers. Much of the plateau belongs to the "Karst Reserve," and there might be special rules for entry. However, they are almost certainly ignored and go unenforced.

Karabi is most accessible from Simferopol, but you will have to take a bus to one of the nearby villages. It's much easier to make Karabi part of a longer trip than try to visit it alone. It's easy to get lost on Karabi because of the uniform scenery, so buy a good topographical map before visiting it. Trails and gravel roads lead in all directions but are poorly maintained.

Right in the middle of the plateau is a weather station that has several rooms for accommodating hikers, cyclists, and other groups. There is a kitchen, outhouse, drinking water, and electricity, but no bedding or showers. Bring a sleeping bag!

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Kara-Tau and the neighboring peaks rise to over 1200 m and are the highest points on Karabi Plateau.	View of Kara-Tau	Most of Karabi Plateau, however, is a hilly, treeless plain of 800-1000 m elevation.	A "road sign" in a remote forest area next to Karabi Plateau
The road is nearly impassable in places (in spring, at least) because of water-filled ruts from heavy vehicles.	Once you reach the top of the plateau, this is what you see. There are lots of criss-crossing dirt roads up here, so it's easy to get lost.	Karabi-Yayla is covered with countless caves and "funnels" (when the ground settles into a funnel shape because of collapsing caverns beneath).	This weather station is the only sign of civilization across the entire plateau (aside from a military base or two...). You can spend the night here for a small fee.
Karabi Plateau is home to a number of endemic species. This flower might be one of them.
At the western edge of Karabi Plateau there is a well-known cave — Khadzhi-Khoba.	However, the signs pointing to the cave have been removed, and we were kicked out because it is nearby a military base!	One of several dirt roads down to the plain north of Karabi Plateau	A beautiful spring day; looking towards Karabi Plateau
To the north, the land is covered with fields.

All photos are the original work of Rick DeLong. To learn about purchasing originals, go here. Please contact me at before using my pictures for any purpose.