(Source: http://strana.ru/places/21251139)

From afar Racheyskie Alps form a forest of relict pines with the thickness in girth on the slopes of picturesque hills. The same tiny wood inside is a light forest with a thick bedding of moss and reindeer lichen, blueberry and cranberry bogs.

According to the variety of flora it is almost tundra. It is not clear how it turned out on the southern border of forest-steppe zone. During the mushroom season here you can make your basket full of milk mushrooms, white mushrooms and saffron milk-caps. A common name, Stone Forest, the Racheysky Alps got not because of mushrooms and blueberries. It is difficult to surprise the residents of the Samara region with the cliffs, living far away from the Zhiguli Mountains. However, even they admit that Racheysky forest is something extraordinary. You can stumble upon huge, life-size outliers in five minutes walk from the edge of the forest. But this is only a prelude.

A rocky massif lies in the depths of the forest. Huge stone outliers rise from the ground up five or six meters, putting in a bizarre labyrinths and grottoes. Wind and water cut the strange lines and shapes on the surface of rocks, making them look like either to abstract sculptures, whether in the crazy architectural fantasies in the style of Antonio Gaudi.

The work of indefatigable sculptors causes involuntary respect, if we remember that they were working not with flexible limestone, that the Zhiguli mountains were stacked of, but with huge powerful granite! When the travelers see a natural garden of sculptures they remember the Karelian rocks or they compare Racheyskie Alps with Krasnoyarsk pillars in miniature.

You can easily get lost without a guide who can bring the group through the forest directly to the rocks in the forest. There is a path from the edge of the forest to the stone ridge. The beginning of the path is marked by the information board. There are no pointers further by the path.

Racheysky Forest is considered a natural monument of regional significance. It means that the forest should be taken care of: do not litter, do not put the tents and not kindle fires. Bonfire and camp site is equipped on the edge of the forest. There are some recognizable marks on many pines in the Racheysky forest as large areas devoid of bark and deep cuts are made as "herringbone". Thus, it is the method of extract of pine resin. As a result of this abuse many trees gradually die or have died.