Opuk Nature Reserve

The name comes from Opuk Mountain (185 m) – the highest point of the Kerch Peninsula. There are several lakes in the territory of the reserve, the largest of which are Koiaske and Uzunlarske lakes. Mini-archipelago “Rocks-ships” (Elken-kaya) with a height of 7 to 12 metres stretches a few kilometres from the shoreline.

 

By appearance and natural features, the Opuk massif is not in harmony at all with the steppe plain landscapes of the Kerch Peninsula. This is a table mountain, the slopes of which are divided into terraces, complicated by ledges, steep cliffs, stony screes, determining the peculiar living conditions of plants and animals, more typical for the mountain than for the plain Crimea.