"What should we regulate? Hiking!" Tourists are prohibited from climbing rocks in Krasnoyarsk Stolby National Park.

In the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park changed Visiting regulations: tourists are now permitted only on officially approved routes. Independent climbing of even the simplest cliffs is prohibited. This access will be reserved for members of the Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, and only on training and competition days.

The national park is known for its bizarrely shaped syenite outliers, formed by weathering. These outliers gave rise to the development of "stolbism"—the culture of free climbing—in the region.

The innovations are related to changes in the law on protected areas. A couple of years ago, it added an article on tourism, according to which all citizens within the national park are considered tourists and, therefore, for safety reasons, must travel along approved routes, Deputy Director of the national park Ivan Kirillov explained to journalists.

"We received recommendations from the federal government that, starting December 1, 2025, all these routes for which passports have not been approved should be prohibited. <> We'll consider this a transition period... We're putting up warning signs," the national park's directorate commented.

So far, three routes have been approved: Laletinsky, "Nature is the Great Sculptor," and "Legends of Takmak." Several other familiar trails for Krasnoyarsk residents are closed because passports are pending.

National park inspectors will be monitoring compliance with the rules. Violators threatens a fine of 3 rubles for individuals and up to 300 rubles for legal entities.

Every year the national park attends Up to a million people. Residents of the region doubt they'll be able to enforce the new rules. They're also unhappy with the changes: they believe the national park was created around the "stolbism subculture," and banning rock climbing is impossible.

"To ban a centuries-old subculture, known even abroad and associated only with Krasnoyarsk... One thing is now interesting: will the people tolerate it? It's hard to believe that all the Stolbistas, for whom this is a way of life, will simply up and stop climbing rocks," "They're worried about safety, so they'd be better off focusing on the air quality in the region and the city; we're suffocating, to say the least," "What else should we regulate? Oh, walks!" "Walk around your apartment."

Photo: Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park