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Аракаевская пещера

Russia Russia Cave

Arakaevskaya Cave

21 m deep, 0.8 km of galleries.

Underground river

See the descentHow to visit

Aleks Ural · CC BY-SA 4.0

The descent

21 metres down, to scale.

The real relief above Arakaevskaya Cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

−21 mEntrance370 m1.0 kmvertical × 28.8−21 mEntrance370 m1.0 kmvertical × 62.3

a two-storey house (9 m) would fit upside down 2.3 times.

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey.

21m

Depth

published (Wikidata)

0.8km

Galleries

surveyed length (Wikidata)

295m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

1°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

60m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

1 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 1 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 23 °C at the entrance, 22 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The wettest months are from June to August: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.

outside, at the entrance (295 m)inside
  1. -12°-19°Jan
  2. -10°-18°Feb
  3. -3°-10°Mar
  4. 6°-3°Apr
  5. 16°5°May
  6. 20°10°Jun
  7. 23°13°Jul
  8. 21°11°Aug
  9. 14°6°Sep
  10. 5°-1°Oct
  11. -4°-9°Nov
  12. -11°-17°Dec
Inside: 1 °C all yearFrost outside: Nov–AprWettest: Jun–Aug

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in Russia

Arakaevskaya Cave is a cave in Russia. It goes down 21 m below the entrance and has 0.8 km of surveyed galleries. The entrance is at 295 m. It has an underground river.

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Mikhaylovsknearest town · 8.7 km in a straight line
  • Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.7 km from the entrance
  • Koltsovo Airport (SVX)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 100 km in a straight line

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The water

The the river runs highest from April to June.

The the river carries about 10.0 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to June, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from November to March.

  1. 2.3 m³/sJan
  2. 2.3 m³/sFeb
  3. 6.5 m³/sMar
  4. 26 m³/sApr
  5. 28 m³/sMay
  6. 22 m³/sJun
  7. 16 m³/sJul
  8. 14 m³/sAug
  9. 13 m³/sSep
  10. 10 m³/sOct
  11. 7.6 m³/sNov
  12. 4.1 m³/sDec

From about 2.3 m³/s in the lowest month to 28 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 1,440 km².

The Serga from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Arakaevskaya Cave (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 6other cave entrances within 3 kmАракаевская пещера, Малая Аракаевская пещера, Мшистая and 3 more
  • 2springs within 2 kmСинюха (Аракаевский грифон)
  • 2viewpoints within 3 km
  • 1information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 15campsites within 8 kmДолина Аракаевских Пещер and 14 more
  • 2hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmДача, Оленьи ручьи
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • car parks within 2 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • Mikhaylovsk8.7 km in a straight line
  • Nizhniye Sergi22 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Arakaevskaya Cave.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Lakeyas1 lakes within 10 km
Mikhaylovskiy Prud7.5 km² · 5.9 km
Peakyas2 mountains within 10 km
Gora Mit'kina · 8.4 kmGora Poludennyy Bardym · 8.4 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon-12-10-3616202321145-4-11
Afternoon-12-10-3616202321145-4-11
Night-19-18-10-351013116-1-9-17
Rain (mm)343043527899928167674836
Rainy days101011121417181714151312
Sun hours/day2.24.35.56.57.87.98.26.04.01.60.71.2
Snow on the ground (cm)4351531920001122031
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan-12-12-19342.2
Feb-10-10-18304.3
Mar-3-3-10435.5
Apr66-3526.5
May16165787.8
Jun202010997.9
Jul232313928.2
Aug212111816.0
Sep14146674.0
Oct55-1671.6
Nov-4-4-9480.7
Dec-11-11-17361.2

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (295 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020149%184%97%143%65%62%97%181%122%66%61%64%
2021122%110%84%86%34%73%89%31%89%72%88%127%
202296%128%64%123%119%118%64%22%95%60%136%93%
202364%91%97%56%18%68%93%120%62%111%186%156%
202499%72%80%91%124%158%186%144%43%38%108%111%
2025140%31%71%178%96%146%124%110%128%74%128%149%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Arakaevskaya Cave

Russia

  • 21 mDepth
  • 0.8 kmGalleries
  • 295 mEntrance altitude
  • 1 °CInside, all year

Sugomak Cave

Russia · 112 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 324 mEntrance altitude
  • 2 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Kungur Ice Cave

Russia · 174 km

  • —Depth
  • 8.2 kmGalleries
  • 124 mEntrance altitude
  • 0 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Orda Cave

Russia · 165 km

  • —Depth
  • 4.6 kmGalleries
  • 153 mEntrance altitude
  • 2 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q4068442) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basinHydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit