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Akhshtyrskaya Cave-3

Russia Russia Cave

Akhshtyrskaya Cave

15 °C inside, all year.

Underground river

See the descentHow to visit

Codwiki · CC BY-SA 3.0

The descent

The entrance, at 166 m.

The real relief above Akhshtyrskaya Cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance625 m1.0 kmvertical × 4.7depth not publishedEntrance625 m1.0 kmvertical × 10.1

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

166m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

15°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

266m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

15 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 15 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 29 °C at the entrance, 14 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August.

outside, at the entrance (166 m)inside
  1. 8°3°Jan
  2. 8°4°Feb
  3. 11°5°Mar
  4. 16°9°Apr
  5. 22°15°May
  6. 26°19°Jun
  7. 29°22°Jul
  8. 29°23°Aug
  9. 25°19°Sep
  10. 20°14°Oct
  11. 14°9°Nov
  12. 10°5°Dec
Inside: 15 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jul–Aug

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in Russia

Akhshtyrskaya Cave is a cave in Russia. The entrance is at 166 m. It has an underground river.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Vysokoyenearest town · 6.8 km in a straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.0 km from the entrance
  • Sochi International Airport (AER)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 8 km in a straight lineCar hire at BUS airport (Batumi)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at BUS airport (Batumi)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The water

The the river runs highest from October to April.

The the river carries about 48 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from October to April.

  1. 78 m³/sJan
  2. 76 m³/sFeb
  3. 86 m³/sMar
  4. 76 m³/sApr
  5. 57 m³/sMay
  6. 33 m³/sJun
  7. 20 m³/sJul
  8. 7.2 m³/sAug
  9. 31 m³/sSep
  10. 62 m³/sOct
  11. 67 m³/sNov
  12. 69 m³/sDec

From about 7.2 m³/s in the lowest month to 86 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 861 km².

The Mzymta from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Akhshtyrskaya Cave (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 6other cave entrances within 3 kmАхштырская пещера, Малая Казачебродская, Дзыхринская (Лиановая) and 3 more
  • 1springs within 2 km
  • 21viewpoints within 3 km
  • 2marked hiking routes within 3 kmАхштырский хребет, Дзыхринский водопад
  • 2climbing crags within 3 kmУчебный скалодром ТК "Серпантин"
  • 5named waterfalls within 4 kmДзыхринский водопад, Водопадик 3м, Крутой and 2 more
  • 11car parks within 2 km
  • 4information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 9bus stops within 2 km
  • 3campsites within 8 kmПоляна у реки, Привал Кемпинг
  • 73hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmМеридиан, Коралл, Анна and 70 more
  • 11restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Vysokoye6.8 km in a straight line
  • Kudepsta8.8 km in a straight line
  • Orël-Izumrud8.9 km in a straight line
  • Moldovka9.1 km in a straight line
  • Khosta10 km in a straight line
  • Adler12 km in a straight line
  • Sirius13 km in a straight line
  • Kheivani16 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Akhshtyrskaya Cave.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Riveryas3 rivers at the entrance
Mzymta89 km · 46 m³/sKudepsta23 km · 3.4 m³/sPkhista
Peakyas4 mountains within 10 km
Gora Sakharnaya Golovka · 2.8 kmGora Dzykhra · 6.3 kmGora Vysokaya · 8.3 kmGora Kepsha · 9.5 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon8811162226292925201410
Afternoon8811162226292925201410
Night345915192223191495
Rain (mm)1361161198490848764116139124126
Rainy days1613141111109810111214
Sun hours/day2.43.43.95.67.08.48.78.66.95.44.12.7
Snow on the ground (cm)2225218200002816
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan8831362.4
Feb8841163.4
Mar111151193.9
Apr16169845.6
May222215907.0
Jun262619848.4
Jul292922878.7
Aug292923648.6
Sep2525191166.9
Oct2020141395.4
Nov141491244.1
Dec101051262.7

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (166 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Inside and around.

Ашхтырская пещера - вход
SKas · CC BY-SA 4.0
Akhshtyrskaya cave
SKas · CC BY-SA 4.0
Akhtsu gorge
GMM · CC BY 3.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202088%138%47%27%108%45%67%44%75%33%82%51%
2021123%112%109%149%89%92%187%190%148%86%83%98%
2022159%88%108%122%117%95%138%41%139%118%68%92%
202338%173%130%209%116%84%145%13%48%50%196%143%
2024145%80%77%11%109%40%57%113%339%88%118%137%
202550%81%70%148%100%150%52%82%116%165%25%170%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Akhshtyrskaya Cave

Russia

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 166 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

Krubera Cave

Georgia · 32 km

  • 2,199 mDepth
  • —Galleries
  • 2,320 mEntrance altitude
  • 0 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Veryovkina Cave

Georgia · 32 km

  • 2,212 mDepth
  • —Galleries
  • 2,309 mEntrance altitude
  • 0 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Vorontsovskaya Cave

Russia · 11 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 527 mEntrance altitude
  • 13 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q4073271) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basinHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit