The Valley of Geysers is a small piece of land hidden from man by its harsh nature for many centuries in the mountainous tracts of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Unique not only for Russia, but for the whole world as a whole, the Valley of Geysers natural park is included in the honorary list of the seven wonders of Russia.
The Valley of Geysers is a fantastically beautiful place, lost in the inaccessible gorges of the Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve in Kamchatka. Geographically, the natural park is located 180 kilometers northeast of the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky among numerous volcanoes stretching along the eastern coast of the peninsula. One of the largest geyser fields in the world and the only one on the territory of Eurasia is a deep canyon about eight kilometers long, along which the Geysernaya River flows. And although there are dozens of similar canyons in Kamchatka, this place differs from others in the highest concentration of hydrothermal springs. For six kilometers from the mouth of the river, 40 geysers are concentrated, which are conventionally divided into nine sections. The central part of the Valley of Geysers is open for tourism, namely the fifth, sixth and seventh thermal sites. Here, in a small space, hot lakes, geysers, mud pots and volcanoes, steam jets and bubbling springs compactly coexist.
The history of the discovery of the Valley of Geysers
The Valley of Geysers was discovered on July 25, 1941 by Tatyana Ustinova, an employee of the Kronotsky Reserve, and Anisifor Krupenin, a guide, during a survey of a previously unknown tributary of the Shumnaya River. This event was preceded by the discovery of the first geyser (Firstborn) in April of the same year. Surprisingly, until that very time, the existence of the geyser field was not mentioned in any report of numerous research groups, or in the legends of the indigenous inhabitants of the local Itelmen places.
Valley of Geysers Tourism
The first tourist excursions to the Valley of Geysers began to be carried out in the late 50s of the last century. The excitement around the new miracle of nature has led to an unprecedented influx of tourists. Numerous travelers tried to take with them a particle of the beauty of these places, taking geyserite, a mineral that forms around geysers, for souvenirs. Ignorance and consumer attitude of people almost led to the deterioration of the ecological situation. The Valley of Geysers was completely closed for "wild" tourism in 1967, ten years later, tourism in the territory of the natural park was banned altogether. Only in 1993, after creating the necessary infrastructure, the valley was reopened to the public.
Ecological catastrophy
In the entire history of observations, the Valley of Geysers has twice been threatened with destruction. In October 1981, the Kamchatka Peninsula was attacked by typhoon Elsa, which brought heavy rains with it. The precipitation caused a rise in the water level in the Geysernaya River, thereby provoking the formation of mudflows, which led to the destruction of more than 20 geysers. The second catastrophe happened quite recently - in 2007. Powerful mudflows hit the valley, hiding many springs under a heavy load of debris and mud, and a dam formed in the place of the field. However, in 2013, a miracle happened - a landslide caused by heavy rainfall destroyed a natural dam, thereby freeing many geysers. The valley was revived. And, according to the experts of the Kronotsky Reserve, the number of sources has increased.
