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The Svydovets is a range of the Ukrainian Carpathians in eastern Zakarpattia, between the valleys of the Teresva and the Chorna Tysa (Black Tisza). Its main ridge bends north in an arc about 25 km long, with an average crest height of 1,735 m, and almost all of it lies above the treeline: broad grassy polonynas where sheep graze in summer, and on the northern slopes glacial cirques holding the Herashaska, Vorozheska, Apshynets and Ivor lakes. Only the Chornohora and the Marmarosh are higher in Ukraine.
The highest summit is Velyka Blyznytsia (1,881 m) at the south-eastern end of the range, with Drahobrat, Ukraine's highest ski resort, just below it. The classic ridge traverse from Ust-Chorna to Yasinia covers 50–55 km and takes about three days. Below: peaks by height, lakes, routes, water, weather, wartime rules and the fight against a mega ski resort.
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The range lies in the Rakhiv and Tiachiv districts of Zakarpattia Oblast, between the Teresva valley to the west and the Chorna Tysa valley to the east. Across the Chorna Tysa rises the Chornohora, across the Teresva the Polonyna Krasna; to the north the Okole pass (1,193 m) links the Svydovets with the Gorgany, and to the south its spurs run down to the Tisza. The main ridge is an arc about 25 km long, convex to the north. From Tempa in the west it runs east to Velykyi Kotel, then turns south over Stih and the Zhandarm rocks to the twin Blyznytsia summits. Long spurs called plaiky reach south, the longest all the way to the Tisza; northwards branch the Tataruka ridge and the Shasa ridge with Pidpula and Berliaska. The Chorna Tysa rises near the Okole pass. The nearest settlements are Yasinia, Kvasy and Chorna Tysa in the east, Ust-Chorna and Brustury (called Lopukhiv until 2023) in the west, and Kosivska Poliana and Rakhiv in the south.
The highest point is Velyka Blyznytsia: 1,881 m on our card, 1,883 m in the Geographical Encyclopedia of Ukraine. About 900 m to the south stands an almost identical dome 1,872 m high, which is why the pair are called the Blyznytsi, "the twins". Routes to the top, the edelweiss on its rocks and the Drahobrat resort below are covered in our separate article on Velyka Blyznytsia.
On the east-west crest itself the highest point is Velykyi Kotel (1,770 m; 1,771 m and 1,774 m are also quoted). Here the ridge turns south, and on the north-west side the mountain drops in a 250 m wall into the cirque of Lake Vorozheska.
Heights are taken from our peak pages; sources often differ by a few metres: Dohiaska 1,764 m, Stih 1,707 m, Tataruka 1,711 m, Mala Kurtiaska 1,652 m. The three Zhandarms are separate rocky tops about half a kilometre apart. Heryshaska and Dohiaska, 700 m from each other, are separated by the Dohiaska pass (1,725 m), and the two are often confused in print.
Guidebooks count about nine lakes in the glacial cirques on the northern slopes of the main ridge. The best known are:
The worst threat to the lakes is off-road driving. In June 2026 a video of a jeep driving through the water of Herashaska went viral; in September the driver's case was sent to court. The Carpathian Biosphere Reserve says such incidents are recorded every year.
The classic route runs from Ust-Chorna to Yasinia or the other way: 50–55 km, usually walked in three days. The red waymarks of the Transcarpathian Tourist Trail follow the crest, but they are sparse in the west, which is also the quietest part. Stages:
The Karpatium guide allows 17–19 hours of walking for the traverse. From Troiaska a blue-marked trail leads north over Tataruka to the Okole pass (about 7 km) and on into the Gorgany. The usual camps are by the Apshynets, Vorozheska, Herashaska and Ivor lakes.
Springs on the main ridge mostly rise at the heads of side cirques, 100–300 m off the path: below Tempa, Unhariaska, Troiaska, Dohiaska, Kotel and Stih. Some weaken by late summer. Boil or filter water from lakes and pasture streams. There is no firewood above the treeline and cutting dwarf mountain pine is forbidden, so bring a stove. There are almost no shelters on the ridge; the reserve offers a camping place at Drahobrat.
The polonynas are still summer pastures: shepherds from Yasinia graze their flocks on Blyznytsia, Drahobrat, Tatul, Vorozhyska and others, and on the Strymcheska and Brailka pastures they sell cheese in summer. Large sheepdogs guard the flocks and can be aggressive towards hikers. Near Drahobrat, jeeps and quad bikes drive along the crest.
Yasinia and Kvasy are on the Ivano-Frankivsk to Rakhiv railway, served by trains from Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa; Yasinia also has a Svydovets halt, a convenient start for walking up to Drahobrat. Buses run from Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod, and by car you take the N09 road. Two rough roads of about 9 and 18 km climb to Drahobrat, so people either take a 4x4 transfer or walk. Ust-Chorna at the western end has buses from Uzhhorod, Mukachevo and Tiachiv; by car, turn off at Teresva onto the T0728 via Dubove.
June to September is the best time for the traverse. About 20 km of the route lies above 1,500 m without a single tree, so in July and August start early and get off the crest as soon as thunderclouds start to build. Fog and strong wind are normal here. At the height of Blyznytsia the average July temperature is about 10 °C and January about −11 °C.
Snow lies from November to May, avalanche danger lasts from December to March, and snow cornices hang between the Zhandarms and the Blyznytsi. On 18 May 2025 a hiker fell to his death from a cornice on Druhyi Zhandarm in thick fog; in January 2026 warning signs were put up there.
Yes. The main ridge and the usual trailheads (Yasinia, Kvasy, Chorna Tysa, Drahobrat, Ust-Chorna, Brustury) lie outside the 5 km border strip: Blyznytsia is about 30 km from the Romanian border, so no border-guard permit is needed. The "Mount Stih" on Zakarpattia's list of restricted areas is a border peak where the Chornohora meets the Marmarosh, not the Stih above Drahobrat. Martial-law rules:
As of 2026 the reserve's e-ticket system lists no Svydovets routes; ask the reserve office in Rakhiv whether any fee applies. Check the rules on the State Border Guard Service website before you go.
Not for now. In 2016 the then governor of Zakarpattia announced a mega-resort on the Svydovets: about 1,400 ha, over 60 hotels and 230 km of pistes. The project was linked to the owners of Bukovel and to Ihor Kolomoisky. Local residents and the Free Svydovets campaign challenged the detailed plans in court, and on 9 October 2024 the Supreme Court made their cancellation final.
Interest in Svydovets land has not gone away. In 2025–2026 the Yasinia and Ust-Chorna communities divided more than 7,000 ha of pasture into about 800 plots so that leasing rights could be auctioned. In summer 2026 about 330 ha went on a 20-year lease to a former deputy director of Bukovel, and another 520 ha were put up for 49-year leases. Officially the land is for haymaking and grazing, but according to the public broadcaster Suspilne, detailed plans for wind farms and resorts already exist or are being drawn up for parts of the range.
The sources we read do not explain the origin of the name Svydovets. It is shared by a stream near Yasinia, a former hamlet merged into Yasinia in 1967, a railway halt and one of the Yasinia shepherds' pastures. Peak names vary too. Austrian maps called Velykyi Kotel "Tatulska"; the name Kotel ("cauldron") came from Czechoslovak mapmakers between the wars, and local people do not use it. Dohiaska was recorded in 1905 as Todiaska, and Heryshaska is thought to come from Herash, a local form of the name Herasym. Locals call Stih "Stuh".