Mountains and nature of the Altyn-Emel Reserve and travels through them -
One-Day Tour to Altyn-Emel Park from Almaty -
Kysty-Kalkan Mountains are located in the eastern part of the Altyn-Emel National Nature Park and are its natural landmark. The mountains are brothers of other nearby Ulken-Kalkan Mountains. Their name "Kysty Kalkan" can be translated from Kazakh as "Narrow Shield", and they really look like a natural barrier stretching along the horizon, as if guarding the peace of these ancient lands. These places breathe ancient magic: the wind walks through narrow canyons, carving out bizarre towers and arches in the sandstone, and at sunset the slopes flare up crimson, as if engulfed in an invisible flame. Near the mountains there is the Ili River and the famous singing Dune. Also on the way to the mountains there are stone steles Oshaktas and the water spring of Chokan Valikhanov, which is considered sacred, because the water from it has a beneficial effect on the human body. The journey to the mountains can be started from the village of Basshi, where the visitor center of the reserve is located and where you need to register your stay in the park.
How to get there and visit -
The Kysty-Kalkan Mountains are located on the right bank of the Ili River on the territory of the Altyn-Emel State National Park, near the Pobshiy Dune, Kerbulak district, Almaty region, Republic of Kazakhstan.
GPS coordinates: 43°53'24"N 78°39'47"E
Information -
Kysty-Kalkan is a low but extended mountain range, stretching in the southern part of the park, closer to the valley of the Ili River. Its relief is a series of rocky waves, jagged gorges, sharp ridges and gentle slopes. The heights here are more modest compared to neighboring Ulken-Kalkan, but the landscape is no less severe and beautiful: exposed dark rocks create a sense of an alien, almost lunar landscape. The geological history of the mountains goes back to the Jurassic period, when volcanoes raged here. Now in the layers of rock you can find fossilized imprints of ancient ferns and horsetails - witnesses of the era of dinosaurs. Particularly impressive are the "lunar" landscapes of the Kyzyl-Zhar gorge, where erosion has created surreal landscapes of red sandstone, reminiscent of the scenery for science fiction films.
The nomads believed that the spirits of fire lived in the caves of Kysty-Kalkan. Archaeologists have actually found traces of ancient sanctuaries here – stone altars and rock paintings of the sun, carved by unknown artists of the Bronze Age. And in the 1940s, the last Kazakh shamans hid from persecution in these mountains, conducting secret rituals in hard-to-reach grottoes. This area is a real paradise for researchers and those who appreciate the secluded beauty of semi-deserts. In the spring, the slopes of Kysty-Kalkan come alive: wild flowers, tulips and rare bushes break through among the stones. In the summer, the heat scorches the earth, but patches of persistent steppe greenery still remain on the slopes. And in the fall, the sunset paints the rocks in copper-golden hues, turning everything around into a living picture.
Rare animals live in these mountains: kulans, argali, foxes, goitered gazelles, steppe eagles. There are almost no people here, only silence, wind and stone. This place is ideal for photo tours, hiking routes and just slow, thoughtful immersion in nature.
Kysty-Kalkan is the younger brother of Ulken-Kalkan, but in its own way it is even more secluded and wild. Its energy is in calm and silent strength. These are the places where people go not for the external effect, but for the internal experience. This is Altyn-Emel in its quiet, unhyped, real essence.
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