The settlement of Bolshiye Koty is situated at 18km from the village of Listvyanichny, the big touristic center at the Baikal.

Bolshiye Koty is closely connected with the history of the Baikal industry development: there used to be exhausted gravel, nowadays the glass-works operates at the lake shore, and more than a century has worked the biological station as well.

Gold mining at the Baikal was started in 1842. There was discovered and exploited placer deposits in the river valleys at the west shore of Lake Baikal, Malyye Koty, Bolshaya and Malaya Sennaya rivers. Over 51 years of mining there had been quarried 10 poods (16 kg) and 12 pounds, 52 zolotniks (4.26 gr.) of 42 quotas (more than 160 kg) of gold in this region.

Not far from the settlement of Bolshiye Koty, in front of Skriper Rock,  in Sennaya Pad (Russian word for “lowland”) can be seen a placer deposit of an Irkutsk merchant Patushinsky. There are still preserved in a good condition many vertical mines with a flank drift, where it is possible to get down. Along the stream gap the wooden chutes of the gold-miners are still met.

Museum of the Baikal’s lore (or Limnological museum) is located in Bolshiye Koty. It was founded by the professor M. M. Kozhov. In the museum there presented over 400 different exhibits, a big collection of insects. Also there is located an active scientific station, where the students from some Irkutsk universities have a practice. A small settlement is turning more and more into summer cottage country as old houses are being bought by the citizens for having rest in summer.

Not far from the settlement, Skriper Rock (geological nature memorial) is located. After getting up on the cliff by the nice path, you can admire the spectacular view of the west shore of Lake Baikal for many hours. On Skriper is also located a small cave of about 60m2, during the research of which many ancient tools, crockery and jewelry were discovered.

It is possible to get to Bolshiye Koty from Irkutsk by a hydrofoil, and it will take about 1.5 hour. In winter a motor road is paved upon the ice of the lake along the shore. And, surely, nothing can be compared with hiking from Listvyanka to Bolshiye Koty!