Biya river

Altai name 'Biy-suu' means the owner of the water. Biya is the second biggest altai river and is represented in altai legends as a masculine principle– a young shepherd, skilled hunter or a brave warrior. Biya starts at the biggest altai lake – Teletskoye. Its estuary is at the bridge connecting Iogach and Atrybash. Tranquil as well as energetic, the river flows right up to the last rift at Verkh-Biysk village. There you would find one more bridge of Teletsky highway. Right after the sacred mountain Salop in Turochak village the river takes turn to plateau at the north-west. By the end of August after heavy glacier melting and showers it get as warm as 20 degrees Celsius. From December to March it gets the most shallow of the year. 300 kilometers from its estuary after passing Biysk city, it runs along the Ob river without mixing its waters.

The coastline of Biya is still not inhabited and explored well. Comparing to the Chuysky highway the Biya tourism has barely started. You would hardly find proper river access from the coast. Though it is not that desperate – due to the small amount of people the forests aren't influenced by civilization and the river is full of fish – grayling. You might even find rare species of 2 kilos. Also it's not that difficult to get a salmon trout or taimen – of 20 kilos or more. In Biya you can find lenok, starlet, pike perch and pike, burbot, perch, ide, bream and other fish of carps.

Biya basin doesn't really have a source of minerals that would colour it into pretty hues like Katun, but there are sources of gold there – at its feeder Lebed river it's being dug. Walk down to the river, find a place of plain sand and look at the lining of the water. You might see little golden parts, reflecting the light, sparkling in the sun.

Remember those places – those sunlit golden spots of the space you were lucky to have. visited. Have a safe trip!


The trip is more comfortable with an audio guide. Download the most complete Audio Guide to the Altai Mountains ALTAI MOUNTAINS GUIDE, verified by researchers of the Anokhin's National Museum of the Altai Republic and listen to this story (track #6) and the rest of the tracks about nature, history and culture, archeology and activities in the Altai Mountains