Odd rocks
Wind-carved.
AscareOs — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AscareOs — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yakov Fedorov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yakov Fedorov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Graphique38 — CC BY 4.0 · AscareOs — CC BY-SA 4.0
Bayanaul National Park is a range of low mountains of strangely shaped rock rising from the steppe of northeastern Kazakhstan. Granite blocks carved by the wind look like heads and animals, pines grow straight out of the rock, and blue lakes sit between the hills. Created in 1985, it is Kazakhstan's first national park and covers 68,453 ha. Its mountains formed in the Paleozoic and have since worn down to 400 to 1,027 m, the highest being Akbet. It has four large freshwater lakes: Sabyndykol, the biggest, with Bayanaul village on its shore, then Jasybay, Toraygir and Byrzhankol. Some 460 plant species grow here, including the Bayanaul pine, which grows on rock. You walk among the odd rocks, including Kempir-Tas, visit the Konyr-Aulie cave, swim in the lakes or rent a boat on Lake Jasybay, and climb the hills for the view. The park is 140 km from the city of Ekibastuz and about 187 km in a straight line southwest of Pavlodar. Summer is the best time to visit and swim, and bring warm clothes for the evenings.
Wind-carved.
Sabyndykol, Jasybay.
On the granite.
Bayanaul village, Pavlodar Region
Yes, in the lakes in summer.
June to September.