Voronezh Biosphere Reserve: where it is and what it is

Pristine nature can relieve stress, restore inner harmony, and bring peace of mind. One of such natural places is the Voronezh Biosphere Reserve — a fragment of the ancient Usmansky Pine Forest, which rustled here 2,500 years ago! On the border of the Lipetsk and Voronezh regions, almost 100 years ago, the Voronezh Nature Reserve was established to save the beaver population. At that time, beavers were rapidly disappearing. Thanks to their tireless activity, these grateful animals helped preserve the unique ecosystem of the Usmansky Forest, maintaining conditions for the life of its numerous inhabitants.

A native of these places, journalist V. M. Peskov — whose name the Voronezh “Grafsky” Nature Reserve now bears (this is the old name, from the nearby Grafskaya station) — believed that nature will heal a person if the person steps back in time and gives it a chance to recover and get out of a difficult situation. Today, the biosphere reserve near Voronezh offers a rare opportunity to get to know the habits of amazing river builders — beavers — and to relax with the family in nature, admiring its wonders.

Where it is located and how to get there

The protected area is like an island, surrounded on all sides by settlements and transport routes. It is located 50 km north of Voronezh and 100 km south of Lipetsk. On the southern edge of the reserve is the Grafskaya railway station (Krasnolesny microdistrict, administratively part of the Zheleznodorozhny District of the city of Voronezh), to the west is Ramon, to the north is Usman in the Lipetsk region. About 5 km from the Grafskaya station is the Central Estate of the reserve, its main tourist sites, and also the Tolshyevsky Monastery, founded in the 17th century.

You can get from Voronezh to the Central Estate of the reserve in several ways:

• By bus No. 310 – it runs from the railway station to the stop “Zapovednik”; interval 40–60 minutes, the earliest departure is at 6:50, the latest at 21:30. Keep in mind that the return trip from the Central Estate leaves at 20:10. If you arrive later, you will have to stay overnight at the hotel located right there.
• By suburban train from Voronezh-1 to Grafskaya station – the earliest train is at 5:08, the latest at 20:42; travel time is about 1 hour, ticket price 93 rubles. From Grafskaya station to the Central Estate you’ll have to walk 5 km or wait for bus No. 310.
• By car: the route to the Grafsky Reserve goes through the Northern microdistrict of Voronezh to the Tambov highway and then through the settlements of Orlovo, Parizhskaya Kommuna, Malaya Privalovka, Krasnolesny.
• From the M-4 “Don” highway: when driving south to the resorts or returning from them, you can turn off the main highway onto the Tambov road, reach the reserve, and cool off in the shade of the Usmansky Forest.

Travel time from Voronezh by private car is about 1 hour. There are free parking lots near the reserve.

Relief, water bodies, climate

The Usmansky Forest occupies the western part of the Oka-Don Plain, which gradually descends from east to west. The relief here was formed in the period of glacier melting: meltwater brought here a layer of sand up to 20 m thick. Layers of clay and loam rich in minerals, capable of retaining moisture and gradually giving it to plants, wedged into the sandy mass. A map of the reserve is shown below.

The territory of the reserve consists of the valleys of the small rivers Usman (also called Usmanka) and Ivnitsa. Both are left tributaries of the Voronezh River, which touches just 4 km of the southwestern part of the protected forest. Usmanka is a chain of lake-like reaches connected by streams; the depth of the river is 3–4 m. During floods, the floodplain width reaches 1 km. From time to time Usmanka changes its bed, leaving oxbow lakes in the old channel, which gradually turn into bogs. Unfortunately, outside the reserve, humans seriously damage Usmanka and its inhabitants by polluting the water with chemicals and organic matter and infecting fish with parasites. The protected part of the river serves as a natural “filter” that cleans its waters from anthropogenic impact.

Unlike Usmanka, the entire course of the Ivnitsa River lies within the reserve, so human impact here is exclusively beneficial. The depth of the river is up to 2.6 m, the width is 3–6 m.

The slow flow of the small rivers is a paradise for industrious beavers, which build entire cascades of dams, holding water back and forming artificial ponds. Amphibians, birds, and mammals of the reserve feed around beaver ponds. The jewel of the Usmansky Reserve is Lake Chistoe, but it dries up in dry periods, and swimming in it is prohibited. In places where sandy soil is backed by clay layers, water stays longer and bogs form: grass, sedge, and sphagnum bogs.

The climate of the reserve cannot be called too harsh: the average summer temperature is about +20°C, in winter about –10°C. However, heat in the region increasingly reaches +33°C, and drought makes it worse — water bodies become shallow, and the animal and plant world suffers. There are snowy and cold winters when the snow cover reaches 80 cm and more; then large animals — deer, roe deer, wild boars — need human help.

Flora and fauna

The Usmansky Forest is a unique combination of plant species from different natural zones. Here, taiga bilberry grows side by side with steppe cherry, and bog vegetation coexists with feather grass from dry steppes.

The prevailing soil here is sand, up to 20 m thick. There are almost no minerals in sand, water does not linger in it — it is hard to imagine a plant that could live on such soil. But such a plant exists! It is the well-known Scots pine, a true grandmaster of survival.

Ordinary forest mushrooms help pine survive in such extreme conditions: slippery jacks, milk caps, chanterelles, fly agarics, porcini — there are up to 300 mushroom species in the forest. Fungal mycelium settles on pine roots and extracts water and nutrients for it from deep in the sandy soil.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Usmansky Forest echoed with the sound of axes — thousands of ship pines, by order of Peter I, went to build the Russian fleet. Today, there is no human noise in the Usmansky Reserve: the aroma of pine needles fills the air and helps heal lungs weakened by infections and smog. Loyal “friends” of pines are also protected — it is forbidden to pick mushrooms and berries in the reserve so as not to disturb the fragile ecological balance.

The second dominant tree species in the protected forest is the pedunculate oak, a real breadwinner for forest inhabitants — its acorn is about 5 times more nutritious than potatoes. Shady oak groves grow lower than the pines, on the slopes of the river divides. There, under the sand layer, clay layers appear, rich in minerals and good at retaining moisture. The age of giant trees reaches 300–400 years.

Lindens are frequent neighbors of oaks; in the reserve there is even a pair that has grown together over centuries: an oak and a linden, he is 160 years old and she is 130 (see photo below).

Another tree species common in the reserve is black alder. It reigns in the floodplains of rivers — an area rich in minerals and abundant water. Nettle, fern, and sedge grow luxuriantly here, but tree roots lack oxygen. Only black alder is able to survive in such conditions. It rises above the ground on stilt roots and creates for itself small “islets of life” (here they are called “kobly”) surrounded by lush floodplain vegetation. Beavers gladly use them to build their lodges.

The animal world of the Usmansky Forest is diverse, but two animals have become the flagship species of the reserve — the European beaver and the red deer. Their sculptures greet visitors at the entrance to the V. M. Peskov Biosphere Reserve.

The beaver is a large rodent weighing up to 30 kg; the length of its incisors reaches 12 cm. Guided by instincts, these animals can change the surrounding landscape to suit their needs. The dams of these wild engineers in the reserved water bodies reach 150 m in length — beavers skillfully regulate the flow rate and water level in river channels.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the valuable fur of beavers and the aromatic secretion “castoreum” made them an object of intensive hunting, and the animal was on the verge of extinction. To preserve it, in 1923 a beaver reserve was created, followed by a beaver breeding center, where beavers began to reproduce in captivity.

From here, beavers were relocated throughout the country and even abroad; some of them even became circus animals. In 1985, the Voronezh Beaver Reserve received international status — it was declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Today, about 300 beavers live here, and visitors can directly observe the behavior and lifestyle of beaver families.

The second animal that has become the brand of the reserve is the red deer with its crown of branched antlers. It was brought to the Usmansky Forest for royal hunts by Princess E. M. Oldenburgskaya. After the revolution, the deer adapted to the reserve, retained their original genetic purity, and their population increased. To transport these valuable animals to other regions, the reserve’s staff invented a special dart that immobilized the animal for a while, which made it possible to transport it in the required direction without trauma and stress.

The main enemy of the red deer in the forest is the wolf — now two wolf families live freely in the reserve, while visitors can observe wolves kept in a special enclosure.

And the most numerous population of mammals in the Usmansky Forest is the old-timer of these places — the wild boar. Now there are up to 1,000 individuals, and they compete for food with deer, roe deer, and moose. To move wild boars from the reserve to other habitats, special traps are used.

Walking along the eco-trails, visitors can see frogs and small turtles basking in the sun, grey herons, cranes, or storks, and hear the tapping of a woodpecker or the hooting of an owl.

Sights of the reserve

One day is hardly enough to see all the wonders of the Usmansky Forest. The layout of the Central Estate is shown below (click to enlarge):

Nature Museum

The pride of the V. M. Peskov Biosphere Reserve is the Nature Museum, whose exhibits have been created since 1934. Today it features an interactive model of the territory: everything that grows, flies, runs, and crawls in the hidden corners of the protected area is presented in the museum in the most detailed and visually appealing way.

Adults who come here with small children often leave the museum with some regret: children pull them forward to see the live beavers and do not let them take a good look at the very interesting exhibitions.

Beaver Town

The main attraction for children and adults in the Voronezh Reserve is the Beaver Town, decorated with elegant wrought-iron gates.

• Beaver nursery – a shed, a kind of kindergarten for baby beavers, where they gnaw carrots, chew leaves, sharpen their teeth, swim, sleep, gain weight, and get smarter.
• Beavarium – a two-story tank holding 30 tons of water; inside, among fish, in an underwater lodge, a beaver family lives.
• Beaver House – a small interactive museum that vividly and humorously tells about the life and habits of these cute animals. They have to gnaw everything they can reach — otherwise their constantly growing teeth will stop fitting in their mouth.

By the way, you can watch everything that happens in the beaver family online: there is a live stream from the beavarium lodge on the website of the Voronezh Reserve.

Peskov Museum

Photographer, traveler, TV host, and founder of environmental journalism, Vasily Mikhailovich Peskov was born in the village of Orlovo, Voronezh region. His essay about deer wintering in the biosphere reserve marked the start of his journalistic career, which lasted almost 60 years. Since 2013, the reserve has borne the name of this environmental journalist. The Peskov Museum contains his personal belongings, books, and photographs. Right in front of the museum building is a pond, next to which you can sit on simple benches and reflect on the wise sayings of this legendary journalist, a connoisseur and defender of nature.

Enclosure complex

Along the eco-trail “Zapovednaya Skazka” (“Fairy-Tale Reserve”), not far from the V. M. Peskov Museum, there is an enclosure complex where, on an area of 625 m², a pair of wolves brought here from the Krasnodar region lives. The enclosure is protected with barbed wire and an electrified fence. Every day the wolves receive about 6 kg of meat, but it seems they do not really like living in captivity. The predators do not come out to visitors very often. You can watch the wolf enclosure online at this link.

Unusual trees

On the territory of the Central Estate there are at least three natural monuments in the form of unusual trees.

• Romantic “oak-and-linden” symbiosis located near the shop: the trees are much older than any living person here, so none of the locals can explain how a linden grew in the fork of the oak.
• Alley of pyramidal oaks (not poplars, not cypresses!) – the tops of the oaks narrow upward as if by command, as though the hand of a skilled gardener had worked on them.
• An old oak more than 400 years old has firmly taken root nearby; they say when it once caught fire, everyone — young and old — rushed to save the unique tree.

Fire Museum

Fires are a real scourge of the forests of the Black Earth region, especially during periods of drought. That is why there is another interactive complex on the territory of the Central Estate — the Fire Museum with a sculpture of a beaver dressed as a firefighter.

Recreation in the Voronezh Reserve

For active recreation in the V. M. Peskov Biosphere Reserve, several eco-trails have been developed.

• “Zapovednaya Skazka” (“Fairy-Tale Reserve”) – a free walk with children along a forest trail, where fairy-tale characters are hidden among the pines, and on the way you will see an enclosure with real wolves.
• Small Cherepakhinskaya Trail – only 1.5 km long, yet it covers all the main biotopes of the Usmansky Forest: pine forest on the upper terraces, floodplain oakwood with broadleaf undergrowth, alder forest of swampy lowlands with fern, nettle, and moist mosses.
• Big Cherepakhinskaya Trail – runs through the pine forest. Wooden walkways and bridges help visitors cross flooded areas and small bogs, watch frogs and waterfowl, and spot little turtles sunbathing on a warm day. The eco-trails are equipped with information stands and funny signs.

Restless kids will like the rope park “Yozhkiny dorozhki.”

And for those who want to stay longer in the forest, admire the sunset and meet the dawn — there is a hotel complex with 40 rooms, both double and family (see the phone number for booking below).

You can read about hotels in Voronezh in our special review.

Note that near the Central Estate of the reserve there is the ancient Tolshyevsky Monastery, closely associated with the name of the famous Tikhon of Zadonsk, who was the bishop of the Voronezh diocese in the 18th century. The monastery was destroyed in the 1930s, but in 1994 it was returned to the diocese and restored.

Prices and contacts

Caring for animals requires expenses, so almost all infrastructure here is paid. You can estimate approximate costs for recreation in the reserve using the table below, and check current prices on the official website.

Note: the reserve is closed to visitors on Mondays.

Cash is required at the ticket office; for cashless payment there is a ticket terminal. You can book an excursion by phone at +7 (473) 269-44-83, and a hotel room at +7 (473) 269-44-82.

Address: 394080, Voronezh, Goszapovednik, Central Estate.

Official website of the reserve: https://zapovednik-vrn.ru.

Official representative office of the biosphere reserve in Voronezh: 25 Oktyabrya St., 45, office 507, phone +7 (473) 255-42-81

Conclusion

Most visitors to the reserve agree: the Voronezh State Nature Reserve is an ecotourism destination that is not inferior to European standards. It is definitely worth a visit! And if you have already been there, please share your impressions in the comments.

Larisa Ishchenko