The valley occupies half the territory of Kabardino-Balkaria and the letter represents the highest part of the Central Caucasus, with all the summits over 5,000m, except Kazbek. The upper part of the valley runs virtually east-west and is bordered on the south by the main Range with its northern branch, the Adyrsu range, extending from Sarykol peak at the head of the Adyrsu Valley. The northern border is Mt Elbrus and its eastern ridges. The upper reaches of this long, spacious and (above 1,700 - 1,800m) richly wooded valley, from the town of Tyrnyauz to the foot of Elbrus, are the scene of the busiest mountaineering activity: climbing, walking, skiing and paragliding. The place is highly civilized with more-or-less developed recreation facilities, ie. a metalled road coming close to the Main Ridge, good comfortable hotels, cableways and some huts on the walking routes.

The road is a string of small towns, villages and (higher up) of touring and mountaineering bases and hotels. The hotels can be found in Terskol and the Cheget Glade (about 200km from Mineralnye Vody city). The valley boasts two cableways. One is on Elbrus, two runs of cable cars and a chairlift above, up to 3,750m. The lower station is on the Azau Glade (2,250m), the intermediate one is Stary Krugozor (3000m) and Mir Station at 3,500m. The second cableway is a couple of chair-lifts (single and double seats) on the Cheget Glade (2,000m) bringing you to a shoulder (3,050m) on the eastern ridge of Chegetkarabashi peak (3,461m).

The Baksan Valley has quite a number of branch valleys, joining it from the north and south. The interesting side-valleys are described briefly:

Further to the west, 20km up from Tyrnyauz. It has a 12km long jeep road, leading to two large mountaineering bases and has any more climbers, walkers and in winter skiers. When you emerge from its lower, narrow and woody part after a long and sweaty walk up the road and see the shining north face of Ullutau across the vast space of its head. Massif Ullu-Tau (4207 m), standing on the Main Caucasian Range, closes the valley on the South, peaks Dzhailyk (4533 m) and Tiu-Tiu-Bashi (4460 m) tower above next to the East lateral ridge between Adyr-Su and Tiu-Tiu-Su valleys.

There are many good places for camping, but the best one is on the left bank, in the pine grove, in Ullutau Alpine Camp (2,360m). There is no easy access to the valley because there is a canyon at the Adyrsu river"s mouth (1600m) and no motorable way up. To get on the road in the valley you have use a car-lift. Two passes connect the valley with its neighbours: Mestiysky, leads across the Main Range to the Lekzyr glacier and Upper Svanetia (Georgia), and Koyavganauch to the Adylsu Valley. The nearest village is Upper Baksan in the Baksan Valley, opposite the mouth. The valleys Adyl-Su and Adyr-Su are separated by long Northern Ridge stretching to the North from peak Gumachi (3805 m) on the Main Caucasian Range. Peaks Chot-Chat (3780 m), VIA-Tau, Koi-Avgan-Bashi (3877 m) (from the South to the North) stand in that Ridge.

The head of the main valley cannot boast scenery like Adyrsu, but the upper parts of its three left side branch valleys, Shkhelda, Kashkatash and Bashkara, are well worth visiting and taking in the views. In turn, Shkhelda valley with the river of the same name is left, south tributary of Adyl-Su. At the confluence, two mountaineering camps, "Shkhelda" and "Elbrus", and rescue service station are situated. From the Shkhelda glacier, climbing routes take beginning to famous mountains: massif Sckhelda, Shchurovsky peak, Mt. Ushba North (4694 m) and South (4710 m) via Ushbinsky pass (4100 m), massif Chatyn (4368 m) via South Chatyn pass. Well known bivouac place - "Nemetskie nochiovki" (German bivouac, 3260 m) - is placed on the elevated, orographically right side of the Shkhelda glacier just opposite the Ushbinsky pass.

The cirque of the Bashkara glacier is a rare exception for rather a long stretch of the Main Range. It is a mountain cul-de-sac with no passes on its abrupt ridges, linking Ullukara (4,300m), Bashkara (4,240m) and Djantugan (3,990m) peaks. There are mountaineering bases and summer camps in the valley. The Rescue Service of the Elbrus area is located in the Shkhelda (1,900m) base. Another camp, Djantugan (2,130m), is at the end of the jeep-road, climbing the right side of the main valley. The best place for camping is located on a green meadow at the head of the valley, near the right bank moraine of the Bashkara glacier (2-2,5 hours walk from Djantugan camp), this place called "the Green Hotel" (2,600m). A good easy climb and a good viewpoint is Gumachy peak (3,805m), in the left corner of the upper basin of the Djankuat glacier. The Koyavganauch Pass is the way to the Adyrsu Valley across the Adylsu Range. The nearest village is Tegenekly, in the Baksan Valley, 1,5km from the mouth, upstream.

The road into the Donguzorun Valley branches off from the main road in the Baksan, 2km down from the town of Terskol, goes over a bridge across the Baksan river and comes to the Cheget Glade (2,000m) with many hotels, guest houses, cafes, souvenir shops, woollies bazaar and the two lower stations of single and double chair-lifts. The first lift to "Café Ai" station (2,750m) takes 15 minutes. There is one more lift to a shoulder on the ridge (3,050m), it is good view point for Mt Elbrus across the deep and green Baksan Valley. A wide path goes up through the Donguzorun Valley in view of the formidable north walls of Donguzorun (4,457m) and Nakratau (4,277m) peaks, past a large turquoise lake under the former, up to the foot of the Donguzorun Pass to Upper Svanetia (Georgia).

Going from west to east, the major northern valley is the Bezengi which called "Himalaya in miniature". Its river, Cherek Bezengi, together with Cherek Balkar, which is further east, forms the Cherek river, almost equal in its length and volume to the Baksan. The valley, arid, only lightly wooded in its upper parts, is gorge-narrow for 20km down from Bezengi Village. The 9km of chaotic moraines from the Bezengi glacier at its head, form a long and austere way to the most dramatic alpine scenery in the whole Caucasus. As a headwall it has one of the three Cauasian wonders - the Bezengi Wall, a monumental mountain barrier 12km long without any considerable depressions and rising above the glacier for nearly 2km. (The other two wonders are Mt Elbrus and Mt Ushba). The largest (36.2sq.km) and longest (17.6km) glacier is there, and five out of seven summits over 5,000m are concentrated in the area. Two of five-thousanders, Shkhara (5,068m) and Dzhangui-tau (5,085m) stand in the Bezengi Wall. Three other five-thousanders of the region, Koshtan-tau (5,151m), Mizhirgu (5,025m)i and Dykh-tau (5,204m), stand in the Lateral Ridge to the North of the Main one.

This area is is very attractive for sportsmen. More than hundred routes of grades from F to ED are available here providing a wide variety of mountain reliefs: from short, one day alpine style rocky routes in lateral gorges to severe many day mixed climbs on north walls and butresses of five-thousanders. Experienced trekkers explain the allure of Bezengui with the fact that giant rocky and icy walls towers up by two kilometers to the sky practically just from the path in contrast with, for example, trek itineraries in Nepal. This region, populated by Balkarians, was known in russian capitals even in the second half of the last century: moscovian journalist and writer V.Guiliarovsky mentioned his travels to "aoul (mountain village in caucasian languages) Bezengi" and higher, to the lower plateau of Mizhirgui glacier ("below the Koshtan snow hat") in late 1870s or early 1880s. However these were British climbers-explorers who "discovered" Bezengui in sportif sense of the word: first ascents of Skhara, Dzhangui and Dykh-tau had been realized by A.Mummery and J.Cockin during two expeditions of 1887-88 led by Sir D.Freshfield. In 1998 "Alpinist Camp Bezengui" celebrated 110th anniversary of these climbs. In 1959 Sir John Hunt (head of the British expedition 1953 which reached first the summit of Mt. Everest) visited these mountains and described them in his "Red snows".

There is a rough track, 18km long, going from the Bezengi village up the treeless left side of the valley to the Bezengi mountaineering camp, which is on the right side, behind the high old moraine, near the snouts of two glaciers . Bezengi and Mizhirgi. Local mountaineering center, "Alpinist Camp Bezengui" (2200m above the sea level), was founded in 1959 (on the photo: the Camp Bezengui, Guestola is behind). At the present it consists of a dozen of buildings including three cottages for about 20 persons each with only double and triple appartments, hot shower and flush WC being in each of appartments. First-aid medical post, sauna, dining house with three meals a day, bar and coffee room, services of route experts and rescuers, maps of the region are available in the Camp as well. It is easily reached from Nalchik (the capital of the Kabardino-Balkarian autonomy which is part of the Russian Federation) airport by bus or car (3-4 hours) or from Mineral"nye Vody (Mineral Waters) airport (6-7 hours). Three high mountain huts are maintained in good state by the Camp personnel providing a refuge for climbers. The lowest of them, "Musos-kosh" (2600m, 2-3 hours by feet from the Bezengui Camp) is in a placid grassy moraine "pocket" near the middle of the Bezengui glacier mainstream. It is here where climbers" cemetery is situated, a sacred place where many russian and foreign climbers are buried. Another hut, "Austrian bivuac" or "Dzhangui-kosh" (3200m, 8-9 hours) is installed at the upper end of the Bezengui glacier east branch. And finally, one more hut, "Ukiu-kosh" (3300m, 4-5 hours), is constructed of stones in the closest to the Camp lateral gorge. Typically the Camp functions for 3.5 months yearly, from June 1 till the middle of September. Hundreds of trekkers and climbers from different parts of Russia and from different countries visit this beautiful and majestic places during the summer period. Stable and quiet social and political situation is characteristic of the Kabardino-Balkarian autonomy in general, but owing to its relative isolation from other parts of the Caucasia, the Bezengui region shows up even in this hospital republic in comparison with, for example, Elbrus region and Baksan Valley being more virgin, much less crowded, cleaner and safer.

Hardly any other part of the Caucasus can boast so gracefully shaped granite pyramids and towers with small, lace-like glaciers having over green, lavishly wooded valleys, crystal clear streams and more than a hundred tarns, enlivening scree cirques with the reflected sky and snow. Thanks to the National Reserve status accorded in 1936. Nonetheless, the area is a fairly well developed recreation and mountain sports centre, the second one in the Caucasus after Baksan Valley. That means metalled roads coming very close to the Main Range at two points, hut-refuges, mountaineering bases with Rescue Service and comfortable hotels. The first terminal point is the Dombay Glade (1,630m), the junction of three valleys, wooded and beautiful. The Amanauz, Alibek and Dombay-Ulgen, are encircled tightly by Main Range and two northern branches, which leave a narrow gorge between their arms for Amanauz River to run north and meet Gonachkhir coming from the right to form the Teberda River.

The Dombai Clade can boast cable lifts, neither of much use to walkers as time savers for approaches. A cable-gondola conntects the Center of Glade (on the Amanauz. right bank) with the upper station at 2,520m on the spur of Mussa-Achitara Peak (3,012m). The second tourist centre in the area is the small town of Teberda (1,300m) 23km downstream. There is a nature museum and a sort of zoo, keeping some species of the rich local fauna. Owing to the curative properties of the local climate, the town, buried in the tall pine forest, is considered to be a health resort. And no wonder. It has richly ozoned air, only 16 days a year without sun and 90 with no cloud, the rest . sunny with some cloud, and neither severe frosts nor oppressive summer heat typical of the foot-hills to the north.