Privolshky Les Nature Reserve, Nature reserve in Penza Oblast, Russia

Privolshky Les Nature Reserve is a protected area in Penza Oblast consisting of five separate forest territories in the middle Volga region. These sections spread across the western part of the Volga Upland, with some areas extending into neighboring Ulyanovsk Oblast.

The reserve was established in 1989 and continues the work of three earlier protected areas created in 1919, including Poperechenskaya Steppe, which was Russia's third nature reserve. These early conservation efforts laid the foundation for long-term protection of the region's ecosystems.

The reserve's name refers to the forest-steppe on the watershed between the Volga and the Don. Its origins lie with the Penza Society of Natural History (POLE) and its chairman Ivan Sprygin, whose petition led to the protection of Poperechenskaya Steppe in 1919. Visitors on the Borok sector can use a designated area for swimming and fishing, and groups can tour Kuncherovskaya Steppe by horse-drawn cart.

As a strict zapovednik, the reserve is largely closed to the public; visits require advance permits arranged with the main office in Penza. Public ecotourist routes exist, including a horse-drawn cart tour in the Kuncherovskaya steppe and guided beaver-watching in the Sura area for very small groups. Borok has a designated area for swimming and fishing. Snow cover lasts from mid-November to mid-April.

Two of the five sectors, Poperechenskaya and Ostrovtsovskaya, lie within the zone of the Dnieper glaciation, and their terrain still shows its traces; the other three sectors stood outside the ice sheet. The reserve also holds nine vascular plant species listed in Russia's Red Book, among them four feather grasses (Stipa).