Krasnoyarsk + Khakassia: Stolby, Ergaki and burial mounds in the steppe
The Siberia people come to for rocks rather than for distance. The Krasnoyarsk Pillars stand at the edge of the city, and south of them begin the Sayans and the Khakass steppe with Bronze Age mounds.
What is here
Krasnoyarsk is the only large city in the country with a national park beginning at its edge: the Stolby are reached by bus and cable car. Further south, in Khakassia, the picture changes — steppe, salt lakes and burial mounds three and a half thousand years old. Between them lie the Ergaki, the most scenic mountain area of the Western Sayan. The route gathers three different Siberias into one week.
Krasnoyarsk: three days
The Stolby are syenite rocks in the taiga; the central ones are reached on a good path, though the climb is real. The Bobrovy Log fun park with its cable car gives the view from above without the long ascent. In the city: Karaulnaya hill with the chapel (the one on the ten-rouble note), the Yenisei embankment, the Ploshchad Mira museum centre. Separately worth a trip are the Krasnoyarsk dam and Divnogorsk, where the Yenisei opens out at full width.
Khakassia: four days
Abakan is a base rather than a destination. From here: the Salbyk mound with its multi-tonne slabs set upright, the Sunduki ridge with petroglyphs and an ancient observatory, the Tuim sinkhole with turquoise water at the bottom of a collapsed mine. The salt lakes of Shira and Bele work as a resort in summer. And the Ergaki — the Sleeping Sayan, the Hanging Stone, Lake Raduzhnoe; about three hours from Abakan, and they need a night at a base rather than a day trip.
The road
Krasnoyarsk to Abakan is around four hours by train or car. There is also a scenic option — the Abakan–Taishet railway with its high viaducts, one of the most beautiful in the country, though it runs the other way. Tick «Train» in the planner form: within Russia overland legs are counted alongside flights.
When to go
June–September. Snow lies in the hollows of the Ergaki until July, and frost is possible by late August. The Khakass steppe is best in June while it is green; by August it has burnt out. In winter the Stolby work and look magnificent, but everything south of them needs preparation and equipment.
The Stolby: how to walk them
The reserve is divided into zones. The tourist and excursion zone is open to everyone: a paved road from Bazaikha, then paths to Ded, Perya and the First Pillar. The climb is substantial and proper shoes are needed. Climbing the rocks here is a culture of its own with its own language and rules — stolbizm; without experience and a rope do not go up the higher rocks, where falls happen regularly. The other approach is through the Bobrovy Log fun park with its cable car: faster and without the climb, but also without the walk through the taiga.
Ergaki: day routes
The base routes start from the visitor centre on the M-54 highway. To Lake Raduzhnoe and the Hanging Stone is a few hours each way on a marked path, within reach of anyone who walks. Beyond that lie the Artists' Pass and the Malachite Bath, which need a full day with an early start or a night in a tent. The Sleeping Sayan is the ridge that really does look like a reclining figure, and it reads best from Raduzhnoe. The weather changes in minutes, and snow in June is ordinary.
Practical matters
The Stolby and the Ergaki need decent footwear: the paths are stony and mountain weather turns within the hour. In the steppe it is hot in summer with no shade — water and a hat are compulsory. Ticks are a real problem in Siberia from May to July: the vaccination is done in advance, and repellent and a check after the forest are not optional. There is almost no public transport between the sites in Khakassia, so a car decides everything.
Moscow → Krasnoyarsk → Abakan
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.