Podkumok River

The Podkumok in mouth close at Georgiyevsk

Podkumok (Russian Подкумок ) is a mountain river in the Caucasus in southern Russia. It is the largest right tributary of the Kuma.

General

The Podkumok rises in the mountains near the Karachay- Circassia over 2000 m high Gumbaschi Pass about 25 km east of the city Karatschajewsk. It flows mainly in the north-east and reaches for a good third of its length of approximately 160 kilometers below the village Utschkeken the Stavropol region. It traverses the cities there Kislovodsk, Jessentuki, Pyatigorsk and Georgiyevsk. Due to the relatively large number of places which are located on Podkumok, the flow is considered to be loaded organic. In relatively clean upper reaches of the river trout and other fish to be caught. The catchment area of ​​approximately 2220 km ² Podkumoks is great. The scenic location of Podkumoks fascinated among others the poet Mikhail Lermontov, in whose works the river and the surrounding region are mentioned several times.

Infrastructure and use

On Podkumok was established in 1903 near Jessentuki the first hydroelectric power plant in Russia. Through the valley of the river from the source to Pyatigorsk leads mostly on the left bank of the upcoming Karatschajewsk highway A157. In Pyatigorsk the M29 crosses the river; from there, the regional road R264 into the location near the mouth Georgiyevsk, where they crossed it at the Staniza Lyssogorskaja.