Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

About this place

The national park closest to the capital and the favourite of its visitors: a broad green valley among granite mountains carved by the wind into strange shapes, with pine and birch forest, clear rivers and meadows that bloom in summer with the rhododendrons that gave the park its name. Its best-known rock is Turtle Rock, a huge granite mass shaped like a giant tortoise sitting on the meadow. White ger camps are scattered through the valley, from which visitors set out to ride horses in the hills, climb rocks, walk by the river and visit nomadic herding families. In winter the valley becomes a white world of snow, with dog-sled trips and horse rides on the snow, though the cold is bitter. In summer the nights are cold even in the warmest months. A small fee is paid at the park entrance. June to September is the best time; winters are bitter, with temperatures far below freezing.