The Nizhnehoperskiy Nature Park was granted its status in 2003 because of its unique nature and original Cossack ethnos. The park covers a total area of about 230,000 hectares and occupies the territory of three administrative districts of the Volgograd region – Kumylzhenskiy, Alekseevskiy and Nekhaevskiy. The flora and fauna of the park are incredibly diverse. Here, you can meet plants from the Red List and a great number of various animals.
About 20 unique natural objects and monuments are located in the park. Among them – Shakinskaya Dubrava (the oak wood) with a hot spring and 200-400 year old relict trees, Filippova Balka (Phillip’s gully), Babinskie ozyora (Bazinskie lakes) with floating islands. Visitors will be astonished by the flood plain forestlands in the Khoper river valley and vast steppes.
Visitors will also be impressed by the beauty of the lakes – Larinskoe, Strokalnoye, Kultuk, Tsaplino; the Ostrov Nature Reserve; Ostroukhovskie luga (Ostroukhovskie meadows); glacial boulders; Shemyakinskaya dacha (fascinating oak wood); Kumylzhenskie peski (sand area) – a real small desert.
There is a unique nature monument cloaked in mystery and legends – Koshav Mountain, which was used as a watch post in the ancient times. Here, you can enjoy the breathtaking view of the Khoper river and numerous lakes. The lonely mountain called Russkaya (Russian) is located on the left of the Khoper river; it resembles the fortress with a flat top.
Other objects are also worth visiting: barrows on the left bank of the Khoper river; the Sign of Holy Mother Temple in the Cossack village of Zotovskaya founded in the 17th century; the monument to the Valiant Don Cossacks opened in 1993 on the right bank of the Khoper river not far from the Cossack village of Kumylzhenskaya. Cossack ethnographic museum in the Cossack village of Bukanovskaya is also very interesting. Here, you can take part in the annual Cossack holiday – Mikhail Sholokhov’s Khoper Dawns named after the famous Russian writer.