Shaytantau Nature Reserve, Nature reserve near Kuvandyk, Russia

Shaytantau Nature Reserve is a protected area in Orenburg Oblast covering about 6,700 hectares across the southern slopes of the Ural Mountains. The land combines deciduous forests with grasslands and steppe habitats that shape the landscape.

The reserve was created by a Russian government decree on 9 October 2014, the newest and smallest federal zapovednik in the Urals. It is managed jointly with the Orenburg reserve by the federal institution Zapovedniki Orenburzhya, based in Orenburg. Its stated aim is to protect the oak forest-steppe of the Shaytantau ridge and the habitats of relict and endemic species.

The name comes from the Bashkir words shaytan (devil) and tau (mountain), meaning Devil's Mountain. It refers to the Shaytantau ridge, not to Turkic folklore spirits. The reserve was established on 9 October 2014 and is managed by the Federal State Budgetary Institution 'Reserves of Orenburg Region'.

Visitors need special permits to enter the reserve and must follow strict environmental rules while on the grounds. Staying on marked hiking trails is required, and hiring a guide is a good idea to help protect the fragile habitats.

The ridge holds the only Cambrian limestone reef massifs in the Urals, over 500 million years old. Fossils of extinct marine invertebrates and algae are found in the limestone outcrops. The reserve also protects the best-preserved oak forest-steppe between the Carpathians and the southern Urals.