(Source: http://www.chslovo.com/articles/5953896)

Tigireksky Reserve established in 1999 in the south of the Altai Territory was created for preserving the flora and fauna of the low-mountain and mid-mounatin landscapes of the Altai-Sayan mountain region.

The territory of the reserve relates to the three Altai districts and is divided into three clusters: Khankharinsky in the upper reaches of the Bolshaya Khankhara River, Tigireksky near the village of Tigirek and Beloretsky in the upper reaches of the Belaya River.

The first two clusters are located in Krasnoschekovsky District, the last one occupies a part of the Zmeinogorsky and Tretyakovsky districts. The reserve in Zmeinogorsky District touches the border with Kazakhstan. The territory of the Tigireksky Reserve has many rivers, the largest of them being the Belaya River. Several rivers of the river systems of Charysh and Alei flow into it. The terrain of the reserve is smooth, mid-mountain, with high sharp peaks in the east.

The highest peak is the Chernaya Mountain (2015 m) in the southeast.

The second highest peak is the Razrabotnaya Mountain (1961 m) with beautiful outbreaks of rose quartz on the southwestern slope and the remains of the field of precious beryl that was mined here in the first half of XIX century. The most interesting of them is the Shlyapnaya Mountain (“Hat Mountain”) with the shape corresponding to its name. It is a symbol of the reserve.

The village of Tigirek is the centre of the reserve, both administrative and historical, as it stands on the place of the Cossack fortress of XVII century. The remains of the shaft, the traces of gates and ditches have preserved until today: Tigireksky Outpost, a part of Kolyvano-Kuznetsovskaya Line of Defense. You can also see the remains of the Beloretsky redoubt on the left bank of the Belaya River. In addition to the mentioned industrial Razrabotnaya Mountain, the reserve has the preserved Beloretsky mine with the two galleries where tungsten ore and quartz sand piles were extracted. The reserve has enough prehistoric objects, both paleontological and archaeological. These are the caves with expressive names Strashnaya (“Terrible”) (with the stress on the penultimate syllable), Mrachnaya, Struna, Yashchur, Logovo Giyeny (“Hyena’s Lair”), or the most important natural monument “Silurian Section of Tigirek” - picturesque and informative outbreaks of Chagyrskaya and Kuimovskaya formations along the bank of the Inya river that are literally revealing the secrets of the formation of tectonic structures of the Earth.

There are a lot of caves in the reserve, including those that have not yet been discovered. Therefore speleologists are very welcome here.

Four tour routes have been designed for the tourists by the reserve.