Quartz Quarry (Blue Lake) near Kharkiv: Location, Coordinates and Photos
Yesterday I couldn’t resist and went for a ride to the Blue Lake — the Quartz Quarry. It’s about 50 km from Kharkiv, near the village of Novoselivka (Nova Vodolaha district).
The quarry is a well-known spot, famous for its two lakes and white quartz sand. Gorgeous!
Worth knowing in advance: the quarry is a working mining site and has been closed to visitors for years. Being on the territory and swimming there is prohibited, and the area is guarded.
The road
The weather was good, the sun was hot, and a little after three I set off towards the quarry. The route turned out tricky — about 120 km there and back.
Towards Nova Vodolaha I took the old road through Merefa: it’s shorter and more fun — little shops along the roadside selling water and kvass — but the road quality leaves a lot to be desired (few lanes and potholes).
On the way back I took the new highway: smooth and wide, room to speed up, but I had to make a 20 km detour, returning through Pisochyn and Kholodna Hora. I got home around 11 pm.
Where the quarry is
This is what the Quartz Quarry looks like from a satellite:
Coordinates of the Novoselivka mining and processing plant:
- 49°41’08.7″N 35°49’59.3″E
- 49.685743, 35.833145
Then and now
This is what it used to be like — people swimming and sunbathing on the white sand:
I drove up and walked to the edge of the cliff to look down. About 200 meters away I saw a guard heading my way. I didn’t wait for him: I took a look, photographed the sign and drove on, closer to the checkpoint.
From there you can see mountains of bright white quartz sand, a freight train and mining machinery. It was already evening, so I turned home.
I took more photos on the way, but unfortunately my phone’s memory card glitched. There were beautiful roses, an old “Nova Vodolaha” sign straight out of Fallout, and other sights of this nice little town.
All in all, a good ride :-)