The Crimean Mountains (Qırım dağları; Кримські гори; Крымские горы; Yayla Dağları) or Yayla Mountains are a range of mountains running parallel to the south-eastern coast of Crimea, between about from the sea. Toward the west, the mountains drop steeply to the Black Sea, and to the east, they change slowly into a steppe landscape.
The Crimean Mountains consist of three subranges. The highest is the Main Range, which is subdivided into several yaylas or mountain plateaus (yayla or yaylak is Turkic for "alpine meadow"). They are:
Baydar yayla
Ai-Petri yayla
Yalta yayla
Nikita yayla
Hurzuf yayla
Babugan yayla
Chatyr-Dag yayla
Dologorukovskaya (Subatkan) yayla
Demirci yayla
Qarabiy yayla
The Crimea's highest peak is the Roman-Kosh (Роман-Кош; Роман-Кош, Roman Qoş) on the Babugan Yayla at . Other important peaks over 1,200 metres include:
Demir-Kapu (Демір-Капу, Демир-Капу, Demir Qapı) 1,540 m in the Babugan Yayla;
Zeytin-Kosh (Зейтин-Кош; Зейтин-Кош, Zeytün Qoş) 1,537 m in the Babugan Yayla;
Kemal-Egerek (Кемаль-Егерек, Кемаль-Эгерек, Kemal Egerek) 1,529 m in the Babugan Yayla;
Eklizi-Burun (Еклізі-Бурун, Эклизи-Бурун, Eklizi Burun) 1,527 m in the Chatyrdag Yayla;
Lapata (Лапата; Лапата, Lapata) 1,406 m in the Yaltynska Yayla, Yalta Yaylası;
Northern Demirji (Північний Демірджі, Северный Демирджи, Şimaliy Demirci) 1,356 m in the Demirci Yayla;
Ai-Petri (Ай-Петрі, Ай-Петри, Ay Petri) 1,234 m in the Ay Petri Yaylası.
The passes over the Crimean Mountains are: (from east to west)
Angarskyi Pass (752m) near Perevalne, on a road from Alushta to Simferopol
Okhotnyche (1185m) near Ai-Petri mountain peak, on the road from Yalta to Bakhchysarai
Baydar Gate (503m) near Foros, connecting Baydar Valley and the sea coast
Laspi Pass (350m) near Cape Aya, on a road from Yalta to Sevastopol.
Rivers of the Crimean Mountains include the Alma River, Chernaya River, and Salhir River on the northern slope and Uchan-su River on the southern slope which forms the Uchan-su waterfall, and the highest waterfall in Crimea.