Pine forest
On granite.
Marat Rysbekov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marat Rysbekov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marat Rysbekov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marat Rysbekov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marat Rysbekov — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marat Rysbekov — CC BY-SA 4.0
Karkaraly National Park is a range of granite mountains clothed in pine forest in the middle of the Kazakh steppe. Flat and rounded rocks lie among the trees, rocky crests rise above the forest, and small clear lakes sit in the valleys. The area was first protected in 1884 as a forest reserve and became a national park in 1998, covering 90,323 ha. Its mountains rose when an ancient shield cracked with granite and the land lifted, and wind and rain have shaped the rocks for thousands of years. Its lakes include Shaitankol, «Devil's Lake», at 1,200 m and 5 km west of the town, and tiny Lake Basin, reachable only on foot. You walk the marked eco-trails among pines and rocks, reach the lakes and look out from the crests over the forest and steppe. The walk to Lake Basin takes about four hours there and back. The town sits at the edge of the park, about 178 km in a straight line east of Karaganda. The mountains are cooler than the steppe, so bring warm clothes and walking shoes.
On granite.
A mountain lake.
Waymarked.
Karkaraly Range, Karkaraly town, Karaganda Region
Trails are marked, but a guide helps on longer walks.
June to September.