Many of Kislovodsk's walking trails intersperse the hills, ponds and forests of this huge park, which is among the largest in Europe. The park ascends southeast from a plaza behind the semicircular colonnade in the town centre to the peak of Mt Maloe Sedlo (Little Saddle; 1376m).
The walking trails materialise south of the park's plaza. It’s a two- to three-hour hike from the colonnade to the top of the so-called Olympic Complex (1200m), where the cable car terminates. On the way you’ll pass various cafes, statues and other points of interest, including the luscious Valley of Roses (Dolina Roz). At 1065m you reach the Krasnoe Solnyshko Hill (Red Sun Hill) where, on a clear day, there are great panoramas of the yawning valleys and green plateaus of the pretty surrounding countryside.
From the top there are good views of Mt Maloe Sedlo to the west and, on clear mornings, Mt Elbrus to the south. It’s another 45-minute walk to Mt Maloe Sedlo. Trails also lead to Mt Maly Dzhinal (1484m) and Mt Bolshoe Sedlo (1409m); Kislovodsk maps show all the walks, most of which are numbered and signed.
For a speedier ascent, make your way to Ordzhonikidze Sanatorium, then walk 500m to the cable car. Marshrutka 21 runs to Ordzhonikidze Sanatorium every 20 minutes from Snizhenka Café, across from the main post office.
