Tourist route along the picturesque Dnipro River through the Dnipro Hills covers 500 kilometers from Vyshhorod to Kremenchuk.
Designed for hiking, cycling, and kayaking, the route mostly follows dirt roads. Every 15-20 kilometers along the route, there are estates where you can stay overnight or enjoy a cup of coffee with pastries.
The route can also be considered a gastronomic one, as it connects local cheese factories, wineries, apiaries, taverns, and other delicious places.
Along the way, there are opportunities to rent bicycles, kayaks, go paragliding, and participate in other interesting organized activities.
The main route is planned to showcase the natural formation of the Dnipro Hills, where unique landscapes of the forest-steppe have been preserved from Vyshhorod through Kyiv, Tripillya, Rzhyshchiv, around the Trazhemyriv Peninsula. The names of local villages have given names to archaeological cultures such as Trypillian (Khalep’ya and Tripillya), Zarubintsy (Zarubintsy), and Chernyakhiv (Chernyakhiv). The route sometimes runs alongside impressive and tall “Snake” ramparts and Scythian ramparts of Khodosivske, Trazhemyrivske, and Motronynske settlements.
After Kanev, the route seems to move away from the Dnipro, following the landscape of the cliffs. However, it actually continues along the old Dnipro, which is now the Irdynske swamp and the Tiasmyn River.
Next is Kholodnyi Yar, the village of Buda, and Semidubova Hora. Life has thrived here since ancient times. Behind the ramparts of the Motronynske Scythian settlement, which is 2,700 years old, the Cossacks established the headquarters of the Kholodnoyarska Republic in the 20th century. It united 25 surrounding villages, had an army of up to 15,000, and fought against communist occupiers for 5 years. Interesting chronicles of that time have been preserved, so it is recommended to read Gorlisa-Horskyy before visiting.
After the Chyhyryn Fortress, the route again returns to the banks of the mighty river. Orbita is an abandoned city of power engineers, built as a satellite town for a future nuclear power plant. There is also a mountain remaining from the flooded town of Kryliv after the reservoir was created. The finish of the route is Svitlovodsk, Kremenchuk, and Pivikha Mountain.
Crypto-Mining with Your Own Feet!
By completing the entire route, you will receive a 500 dnpr coin or its equivalent in a cryptocurrency wallet.
With the project’s native cryptocurrency, dnrp, you can stay in some hotels, buy coffee along the route, magnets, souvenirs, and other partner goods.
The dnrp token, after marking and arranging the route, will be listed on a cryptocurrency exchange. More details about this can be found in the dnpr token information. Token dnpr
Civilization on the Route
Throughout the route, every 15-20 kilometers, you will find cozy guesthouses, hotels, and glamping sites. This will soon be reflected on our online map (you can download a track with all the information to your phone and use it in offline map mode, for example, Osmand).
Most villages have a grocery store in the center. Sometimes you may need to ask the locals, as some stores are operated from homes, or the shopkeeper lives next to the store and visits each customer upon request.
Mobile communication and internet are mostly available everywhere, or at least on the nearest hill.
Public toilets, of the “civil” type, are available in most hotels, campsites, and gas stations. In the center of each village, behind the store, you will encounter an old-style toilet with a hole in the floor, so be prepared for that.
Orientation
You can download the route track along with markers for points of interest, cafes, and hotels along the route, as well as other useful information.
There are also plans to mark this trail and provide necessary facilities where needed, after the final approval of the route.
Grandfather Dnieper
The inhabitants of modern Ukraine 2-3 thousand years ago called themselves Skoloti, the children of Skila.
Skila Targitai, the son of Papai, the god of thunder, and Api, the daughter of the river god Borysthenes.
Herodotus, the father of history and contemporary of the Scythians, describes their cosmological beliefs as follows: The serpent stole the water from the Dnieper-Borysthenes, covering it with mountains. The god of thunder, Papai, creates a new path for the river, freeing Api, the daughter of Borysthenes. They marry, and their first human descendant is born, Skila Targitai. After performing a series of feats, Skila Targitai marries Tabita, the daughter of the Sun.
Their three sons, Arpoxai (king of the River), Lypoxai (king of the Mountain), and Kolaxai (king of the Sun), received gifts from the sky: a Golden Plow, a Cup, an Axe, and a Yoke.
Only records of travelers have survived to our time, as no Scythian texts have been found. They used the Greek alphabet on their coins.
However, in Ukrainian folk tales that have been passed down orally, we can easily recognize this plot in the tale of Kotyhoroshko, where the role is played by Papai or Skila, and the serpent appears under its own name.
The period of the Scythian civilization coincided with the flourishing of Greek colonial cities, particularly Olbia, and they had close contacts with each other. Herodotus even calls Olbia the “Scythian emporium.” Some events of Greek mythology take place in the Northern Black Sea region, and there are Olbian coins with the Scythian god Borysthenes on the other side.
Therefore, people considered themselves literally the grandchildren of the Dnieper. In our time, this is reflected in the words of the Ukrainian anthem: “The Black Sea will still smile, Grandfather Dnieper will rejoice.”
However, the serpent has indeed returned, and now the Dnieper is ailing, bound by six dams. Out of the 1000 kilometers of the Ukrainian stretch of the Dnieper, only 100 kilometers flow through natural banks. It is time to decommunize the Borysthenes!
