Bolshoye Bogdo, Protected hill in Akhtubinsky District, Russia.
Bolshoye Bogdo is a protected hill in Akhtubinsky District that rises 152 meters above sea level and forms the highest point in Astrakhan Oblast. The hill sits within the Caspian Depression and borders the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Nature Reserve.
This geological formation developed deep in the past and first appeared in major encyclopedias during the late 1800s. The hill owes its existence to underground salt domes that have shaped the landscape over thousands of years.
The hill sits near routes where travelers and merchants once moved through the region. Visitors can sense how this location connected different peoples across the steppe over long periods.
A marked path leads to the summit, where views of Lake Baskunchak and the surrounding landscape open up. Wear sturdy shoes and be ready for some steep sections, as the terrain changes along the way.
The hill contains more than 30 caves that run through its rocky interior. What makes it especially noteworthy is that it grows roughly one millimeter each year due to shifts in the salt dome beneath it.
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