South Ural Nature Reserve (Russian: Южно-Уральский заповедник) (also Yuzhno-Uralsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) protecting mountain taiga ecosystems in the highest part of the Southern Ural Mountains.

Several mountain ridges run through the territory: Mashak, Zigalga, Nara Kumardak and Yamantau.

[1][2] The South Ural Reserve terrain consists of several mountain ridges (Mashak, Zigalga, Nara Kumardak and Yamantau) running in parallel from southwest to northeast, with broad inter-mountain valleys and cross-river cuts that create a lattice structure.

In the early 1900s, commercial logging expanded, and during the war several internment camps were built inside one of the borders along with a narrow gauge railroad.

In 1979, the reserve was established to restore and protect a large section of representative Southern Ural forest.

This ecoregion covers the Ural Mountains in a band that is narrow from west-east, but runs up most of the divide between European and Asiatic Russia.

This climate is characterized by large swings in temperature, both diurnally and seasonally, with mild summers and cold, snowy winters.