Martian Landscapes in Russia

Did you dream of flying into space as a child? You probably imagined walking on the red dust of Mars, with only silent mountains and a sky of a different color around you. Good news: to see these fantastic landscapes, you won't need a rocket or a spacesuit. There are places in Russia so similar to the Red Planet that they take your breath away and make you feel as if you've truly left Earth.

We've prepared a guide to the most impressive 'Martian' locations in our country. Get ready to be amazed, take photos, and feel like a discoverer of a new world!

Altai Mars, Kyzyl-Chin Valley

This is, without exaggeration, the most famous and most 'Martian' place in Russia. The colorful mountains in the Kyzyl-Chin River valley in Gorny Altai are not Photoshop, but a real natural palette created millions of years ago.

• Why is it Mars? It's all about geology. The clay in these mountains is saturated with oxides of various metals, which, upon contact with oxygen, color the rock in incredible hues. Iron oxide gives all shades of red, manganese – pink and lilac, chromium – yellow and green. Due to the harsh climate, there is almost no vegetation here, which only enhances the feeling of being on another planet.
• What to see and do? Altai's 'Mars' is usually divided into two main locations: Mars-1 (popular, with bright red hues) and Mars-2 (more remote, with a predominance of green and purple colors). You can spend hours walking through the hills, touching the colored clay, and taking fantastic photos.
• When to go? The best time to visit is from May to September, when it's warm and dry in the mountains and all roads are open.
• How to get there? A trip here is a real road adventure. First, you need to buy tickets to Gorno-Altaysk on Kupi.com. Then – rent a car (preferably an SUV) and drive along the legendary Chuysky Trakt for about 870 km to the village of Chagan-Uzun.

Ural Mars, Quarries near Bogdanovich

If Altai is too far to travel, there's an excellent alternative in the Urals. Just 100 km from Yekaterinburg, near the city of Bogdanovich, are the Troitsko-Baynovsky clay quarries.

• Why is it Mars? This is a man-made wonder. Decades of refractory clay mining have left behind a landscape with cracked red earth, canyons, and colorful lakes, whose water has unusual shades – from turquoise to milky white.
• What to see and do? Walk through the vast territory of the quarries, photograph surreal landscapes where red earth contrasts with bright water. The terrain here is very diverse: there are flat plateaus and steep cliffs.
• When to go? In summer, in dry weather. After rains, the clay becomes muddy, and moving around the quarries becomes very difficult.
• How to get there? It's best to look for flights to Yekaterinburg on Kupi.com in advance. From Yekaterinburg, you need to drive about 115 km along the Tyumen Highway to the village of Poldnevoy, from where a dirt road leads to the quarries.

Bermamyt Plateau, Caucasus

Bermamyt Plateau in Karachay-Cherkessia is a place of power and one of the best viewpoints for Mount Elbrus. Its landscapes are so majestic and desolate that it's easy to imagine yourself on a plateau in Valles Marineris on Mars.

• Why is it Mars? Because of its scale, vastness, and geology. Huge, almost vegetation-free spaces, bizarrely shaped residual rocks, and canyons hundreds of meters deep. At dawn, the sun's rays paint the rocks and clouds underfoot in fiery red colors, creating a complete illusion of an alien morning.
• What to see and do? Witnessing the sunrise with a view of the two-peaked Elbrus is the main reason people come here. Photograph the 'Amphitheater' and 'Two Monks' rocks.
• When to go? From May to October. Summer is the most comfortable time here, and autumn adds vibrant colors.
• How to get there? Bermamyt is a hard-to-reach plateau. First, you need to buy tickets to Mineralnye Vody on Kupi.com. From Kislovodsk, which is an hour's drive from the airport, jeep tours to the plateau are organized.

Alexandrovsky Graben, Volgograd Oblast

A unique geological monument on the bank of the Volgograd Reservoir, which looks like a set for a space movie.

• Why is it Mars? A graben is a tectonic fault. Here, ancient layers of earth, colored in various hues – from dark red to yellow – emerge to the surface. A huge cliff, as tall as a 7-story building, descending to the water, resembles a Martian canyon.
• What to see and do? Walk along the edge of the cliff, studying the colorful rock layers that are millions of years old. Descend to the water and find the 'Devil's Finger' – a solitary residual rock. This place is ideal for photographers and geology enthusiasts.
• When to go? From late April to October, in dry weather.
• How to get there? It is located 200 km from Volgograd. You need to buy tickets to Volgograd on Kupi.com, and from there drive by car towards the city of Kamyshin, to the village of Suvodskoye.

Putorana Plateau, Krasnoyarsk Krai

A lost world in the heart of Siberia, a UNESCO World Heritage site. This place is so wild and vast that its landscapes seem otherworldly.

• Why is it Mars? Because of its unique relief. The plateau consists of table mountains (traps) with flat tops and steep slopes. Thousands of canyons, rivers, and waterfalls cut through the plateau, creating a landscape found nowhere else on the planet. The complete absence of civilization and people for hundreds of kilometers around only enhances the feeling that you are on another, uninhabited planet.
• What to see and do? Observe waterfalls (there are more here than anywhere else in Russia), go trekking through canyons, and fish. Putorana is all about complete unity with wild nature.
• When to go? A very short season: July and August.
• How to get there? This is the most difficult-to-access location on the list. The gateway to the plateau is the city of Norilsk. Look for tickets for the Moscow – Norilsk route. From Norilsk, you can only reach the plateau as part of an organized tour.

Mount Bolshoye Bogdo, Astrakhan Oblast

The only true mountain in the Caspian region, situated in the middle of an perfectly flat steppe. Its slopes, composed of red sandstone, and its location next to the salty Lake Baskunchak create an utterly alien picture.

• Why is it Mars? The bright red color of the mountain, which is constantly growing (due to the salt dome beneath it), sharply contrasts with the dazzling white salt plain of Lake Baskunchak. This landscape – a red hill and a white desert stretching to the horizon – looks like a planet's landscape from 'Star Wars'.
• What to see and do? Climb to the top of the mountain, listen to the rocks 'sing' (due to weathering, depressions form in them that hum in the wind), and then descend to Lake Baskunchak and even lie on its salty surface, like in the Dead Sea.
• When to go? In spring (April-May), when the steppe is blooming, or in autumn (September-October). It's unbearably hot here in summer.
• How to get there? First, you need to fly to Astrakhan. Then, by car or as part of an excursion, drive about 200 km to the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Reserve.

Karamken Crown, Magadan Oblast

Kolyma region is synonymous with harsh and wild beauty. The landscapes here are so pristine that it's easy to imagine yourself on a newly formed planet.

• Why is it Mars? The Karamken Mountains are remnants of ancient volcanic activity. Their slopes are covered with reddish-brown scree (kurumnik), and the sharp peaks and ridges are almost devoid of vegetation. Silence, sharp shadows, and the complete absence of human traces for many kilometers create a very powerful, almost cosmic impression.
• What to see and do? Go hiking along the spurs of the ridge, explore the ruins of the abandoned village of Karamken, and simply enjoy the silence and harsh beauty of the northern nature.
• When to go? The short Magadan summer – July and August.
• How to get there? This is a journey for true adventurers. First, you need to buy tickets to Magadan on Kupi.com. From Magadan, drive about 100 km along the Kolyma Highway to the Karamken village area, from where hiking trails begin.

As you can see, you don't have to wait for Elon Musk for a space journey. Amazing alien worlds are much closer, and they are waiting for their explorers.