Polikar Waterfall in Krasnaya Polyana

🕐 Working hours

available around the clock, visit during daylight hours. The best season is spring and summer, especially May and June, because the rest of the year it may not be very full-flowing.

💵Entrance fee / ticket price

the Polikara Waterfall is located on the territory of the Sochi National Park, the entrance to the territory of which is paid, but as of 2021 there are no ticket offices for the entrance to the route, the passage is free. The ascent by cable car to the waterfall - from 1,450 rubles.

🚶 How to get there

located in the Krasnaya Polyana area, 4 kilometers from the center of the village of Estosadok in a straight line at an altitude of about 1500 meters above sea level and 900 meters above the level of the resort (Polycarp on the map). The easiest way to get here is with a walking ticket on a cable car or with jeep excursions (sold in Adler and Krasnaya Polyana), but you can go up and down on foot within one day. Learn more about each method:

By cable car to Polikar

On the cable car of the Krasnaya Polyana resort/Mountain carousel" provides special walking tickets to the waterfall. You can buy them at the ticket offices of the lower station of the Gornaya Karusel cable car (you can take buses No. 105, 535, 163 to the Gornaya Karusel stop), online on the resort's website and at distributors on the street and at the railway stations of Krasnaya Polyana immediately upon arrival. The cost in both directions is from 1,450 rubles, children - from 850 rubles. You will need to go up with transfers: first in a closed booth, and then transfer to a chairlift. There will be no problems with transfers along the route, because there are staff everywhere who will help and make sure that you do not go somewhere wrong. The validity period of the ticket is unlimited during the day, and if you wish, you can stay at any of the intermediate stations for a walk. However, do not forget that the cable car has a limited working time, and you need to have time to get down before it ends, usually it is 17:00.

But the cable car will take you not directly to the waterfall, but to the upper station "Vodpad Polikar", from where you still have to walk directly to the waterfall one kilometer and 90 meters climb, which will take 20-30 minutes. The path is well equipped and equipped with signs.

Walking to Polikar

If the cable car is too expensive for you or you want to feel like a climber, then you can easily walk to Polikar within one light day. However, this will require a lot of effort, good sports or trekking shoes, drinking water, a hat and the ability to navigate the terrain and the navigator. You will have to walk more than 6 kilometers in one direction and overcome more than 900 meters on the rise. If you are in good physical shape and do not get lost along the way, then you will overcome this path in 3-4 hours without long stops. You can significantly ease your fate if you travel almost half the way by taxi, which is still much cheaper than climbing on a cable car.

So, many trails and dirt roads lead to the Polikar Waterfall along the slopes of the mountains from the Krasnaya Polyana resort along the lifts. If you are going to rest at other resorts in the village of Krasnaya Polyana, it is better to first get to the starting point by taxi or city buses No. 105, 535 or 163. The nearest bus stop for disembarkation is called "Rosa Khutor Station". And by the way, it can also be reached by train from other resorts of Sochi.

There are almost no signs on foot ascent, so it is best to climb with a navigator (smartphone) and maps loaded on it Organic Maps, OSM, etc., on which trails are marked. We recommend that you first walk along the serpentine asphalt road to the resort "Krasnaya Polyana 960 meters", although if you wish, you can walk up to this level and along the trails, and from 960 meters you will have to find the starting point of the main hiking trail on Polikar and then follow it on the navigator.

It will be much easier to climb if you first take a taxi to Krasnaya Polyana 960 meters, then you will have to climb to the waterfall by only 540 meters instead of 900. A taxi from the center of the Krasnaya Polyana resort to the level of 960 meters in good weather will cost only 300 rubles when ordering through applications.

And now the most pleasant thing! After visiting the waterfall, it will be possible to go back down on the cable car completely free of charge, since ticket control is not performed when boarding down.