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RussiaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
Kuzhniksky, aka Turaginsky natural bridge is an amazing natural landmark of Dagestan, which is a stone arch formed naturally as a result of leaching and weathering of rock over thousands of years. This is really a stone bridge, which you can even climb and walk on it. In general, the place is very picturesque, and the waterfall adds beauty to it, the jets of which flow down the wall of the rock right under the arch of the bridge. In addition, the path to the waterfall itself will be interesting, which can become a small adventure and will surely appeal to those who like one-day hiking.
The route to the bridge starts from the outskirts of the village of Kuzhnik. It can not be called easy, although no special skills are required for this mini-hike. It will take at least 3 kilometers to get from the nearest place where you can get by car, and possibly more, it all depends on how close you can get by car.
The entire walking route in both directions directly to the bridge will take at least 4 hours, plus time for rest and photography. You will have to walk on the rocks, you will need to cross the river and go down/ climb steep slopes, so sports or hiking shoes are required. Also take water with you and you can have something to eat. There are no signs on the walking part, so you can use Yandex.Navigator or Yandex Map Editor apps to navigate Maps.me , Organic maps, OSM and others like that. These maps do not show a path directly to the bridge itself, but there is a large part of the way. There is also a drawn trail on Yandex maps, but the Internet doesn't catch it there, so you need to download the map in advance for offline use.
🕐 Working hours
Around the clock, it is better to visit in the daytime, and start the route in the morning.
💵 Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there
Kuzhniksky natural bridge is located in the Tabasaran district of Dagestan behind the village of Kukhnik (bridge on the map). By the way, on Google maps its place is marked incorrectly, please refer to our coordinates.
The bridge is about 70 kilometers from Derbent and more than 150 from Makhachkala. Despite the short distance, a whole day should be allocated for the entire trip, since it will take more than 4 hours to walk to it and back. You can combine a trip to the bridge with the premises of Khuchninsky fortress, Khanagsky waterfall and The ancient Gulli Bridge, but we recommend visiting the natural bridge first, and everything else is on the way back. The fact is that due to the complexity of the walking part of the route, it is quite possible to stay there and even get lost a little, so you need to try to reach the bridge and return during daylight hours.
So, the main access point for a hike to the bridge is the village of Kuzhnik. Most of the road to it is asphalt, but after the village of Khanag, a primer begins, along which you will have to drive 10 kilometers. The primer is generally not bad, but the last few kilometers in the village of Kuzhnik and after it it is clayey, and in bad weather it becomes difficult even for off-road vehicles. So if you are not sure about your skills and the car, it is better to stop a little further and walk more than then to get the car out of the mud. Finally, the automobile part of the way ends behind the village of Kuzhnik at a conditional parking lot (the landmark is three gazebos), and then only on foot on our own using the navigator, as we wrote above. Also, local "boys" often turn around here, who offer their services as guides to the bridge, the price is negotiable.
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Dagestan with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: