This is the core of one of the last large mountain regions in Europe where nature has been left more or less alone, and it is a World Heritage property because of that. The Caucasus Nature Reserve covers a vast area of peaks over three thousand metres, alpine meadows, beech and fir forests and glacier-carved valleys, and the area is also known for its plant life, with species found nowhere else.
The animals are the story. European bison were wiped out in the wild in the 1920s, with the last wild animals of the Caucasus shot, and the reserve took part in the work of bringing them back from zoo stock, so that herds now live in the mountains again. Brown bears, lynx, chamois and the Caucasian tur, a goat with huge curved horns, live here, along with a rich bird life including the Caucasian snowcock and golden eagle. The summer meadows are a carpet of flowers, and the air smells of wet grass and rhododendron.
The riding is on the fringes of this wilderness and not in the heart of it. The road from Maykop in Adygea climbs through Kamennomostsky to the Lago-Naki plateau, a high limestone upland with caves and meadows, and the last part is steep and rough, sometimes gravel, and often wrapped in cloud. On the Sochi side, the road up to Krasnaya Polyana, the mountain resort that hosted the winter Olympics in 2014, follows the river Mzymta through a gorge of tunnels and bridges, with clear and impressive views of the peaks. Weather changes fast, with fog, hail and cold even in July, and snow can come early in autumn. The reserve interior is restricted and a permit is needed for any entry, and parts of the area lie in a border zone.
Fuel is available in Kamennomostsky and the larger towns, but in the mountains there is almost none, so fill up before climbing. Because current travel conditions and permit rules for foreigners in Russia are uncertain and change, check them thoroughly before you plan a ride here. Local mountain honey and cheese are worth buying from roadside stalls.