National parks of Kazakhstan on charyn.kz

Aksu-Zhabagly

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aksu-Zhabagly — state nature reserve (zapovednik), Turkestan and Zhambyl Regions.

Illustration Botanical illustration: Greig's tulip — mottled leaves, flower in section, bulb and seed capsule

Key figures


Area	131 934 ha
Region	Turkestan and Zhambyl Regions
Established	14 July 1926

Category

State nature reserve (zapovednik)

Aktau and Katutau mountains in Altyn-Emel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aktau is a range of banded clay hills cut by canyons in Altyn-Emel National Park; its layers have yielded remains of ancient crocodiles, turtles and rhinos. Next to it lies Katutau, a dark massif of volcanic rock. Both are covered in a day on a single park route from Basshi village, about 250 km from Almaty; sources put Aktau 70–120 km of dirt road from Basshi. The best months are April–June and August–October.

Alakol

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alakol — state nature reserve (zapovednik), Zhetysu and Abai Regions.

Illustration Zoological illustration: relict gull in breeding plumage

Key figures


Area	65 672.01 ha
Region	Zhetysu and Abai Regions

Category

State nature reserve (zapovednik)

A zapovednik is the strictest category. There is no free entry: permission and prior arrangement are required, usually along marked ecological trails and with an escort.

Altyn-Emel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Altyn-Emel State National Natural Park — Almaty Region. Established on 10 April 1996.

Illustration Engraving: a single enormous dune on a desert plain between mountain ranges

Key figures


Official name	Altyn-Emel State National Natural Park
Area	307 653 ha
Region	Almaty Region
Established	10 April 1996

209,553 ha at its creation in 1996, later expanded.

Bayanaul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bayanaul State National Natural Park — Pavlodar Region. Established on 12 August 1985.

The first national park in Kazakhstan.

Illustration Engraving: wind-eroded granite tors and a rock spire above a steppe lake

Key figures


Official name	Bayanaul State National Natural Park
Area	68 452.8 ha
Region	Pavlodar Region
Established	12 August 1985

Entrance tariff

0.15 MCI per pedestrian, 0.4 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 648.8 ₸ and 1,730 ₸.

Big Almaty Lake

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Big Almaty Lake (locally BAO, from its Russian initials) is a mountain lake at about 2,511 m in the Big Almaty gorge, roughly 15 km in a straight line from the southern edge of Almaty. You cannot drive there: since spring 2026 only people on foot are allowed, and the road walk is about 15 km each way. Swimming is banned because the lake supplies the city with drinking water. The best months are July and August, when the water is at its most turquoise.

Bozzhyra and the wild landscapes of Mangystau

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bozzhyra is a valley of white chalk pinnacles on the western escarpment of the Ustyurt Plateau, in the Karakiya district of Mangystau region. It lies about 298–300 km from Aktau and 148 km from Zhanaozen, and Tengrinews says only off-road vehicles can get around it. It belongs to the Zhabayushkan sanctuary, not the Ustyurt Nature Reserve; since 1 September 2026 a car pays 0.7 MCI to enter, and foreigners pay double. Go between mid-April and late May or in the second half of September, and bring water and fuel: there is no phone signal.

Burabay

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Burabay State National Natural Park — Akmola Region. Established in 2000.

Illustration Engraving: weathered granite rocks rising out of a lake, pines on the hills

Key figures


Official name	Burabay State National Natural Park
Area	129 299 ha
Region	Akmola Region
Established	2000

Entrance tariff

0.3 MCI (1,297.5 ₸) per car; on weekends and public holidays from 1 May to 30 September, 0.4 MCI (1,730 ₸). Set by Order No. 04/276 of the Presidential Property Management Department of 14.11.2024.

Entrance tariffs for every protected area in Kazakhstan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

“How much does it cost to enter a national park in Kazakhstan” has no single answer, and that is not an evasion. Tariffs are approved by appendix, one per institution: every territory has its own.

The spread is wide. A car costs 1,297.5 ₸ at Ile-Alatau and 3,892.5 ₸ at Altyn-Emel — three times more.

All 28 territories

Converted at the 2026 index (4,325 ₸). The “App.” column gives the appendix number, so any rate can be checked against the order itself.

Ile-Alatau

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park — Almaty Region. Established on 22 February 1996.

Illustration Zoological illustration: a snow leopard on a rocky ledge

Key figures


Official name	Ile-Alatau State National Natural Park
Area	199 621 ha
Region	Almaty Region
Established	22 February 1996

202,292 ha at its creation in 1996.

Ile-Balkhash

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ile-Balkhash — state nature reserve (rezervat), Almaty Region.

Illustration Zoological illustration: a tiger in the tugai thickets of a desert river delta

Key figures


Area	450 252.6747 ha
Region	Almaty Region

Category

State nature reserve (rezervat)

A rezervat has a mixed regime: the territory is zoned, part closed and part accessible by permit.

Kaindy Lake: the sunken spruce forest

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kaindy is a mountain lake about 400 metres long in a gorge of the Kungey Alatau, near the village of Saty, inside Kolsai Lakes National Park. From Almaty it is roughly 284 km by road, with the last 9 km on a dirt track and then about 1.5 km on foot. The best time to go is summer or early autumn in dry weather. What draws people is the sight of bare spruce trunks standing in turquoise water, drowned when an earthquake dammed the valley in 1911.

Karkaraly

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Karkaraly State National Natural Park — Karaganda Region. Established on 1 December 1998.

Key figures


Official name	Karkaraly State National Natural Park
Area	112 120 ha
Region	Karaganda Region
Established	1 December 1998

Entrance tariff

0.2 MCI per pedestrian, 0.5 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 865 ₸ and 2,162.5 ₸.

The tariff is set by appendix 9 to Order No. 232 of 2 October 2024.

The tariff is set in MCI units rather than tenge, so the amount changes with each January budget.

Katon-Karagay

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Katon-Karagay State National Natural Park — East Kazakhstan Region. Established on 17 July 2001.

The largest national park in Kazakhstan.

Illustration Zoological illustration: an Altai maral stag with branching antlers

Key figures


Official name	Katon-Karagay State National Natural Park
Area	643 477 ha
Region	East Kazakhstan Region
Established	17 July 2001

Entrance tariff

0.2 MCI per pedestrian, 0.4 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 865 ₸ and 1,730 ₸.

Kazakhstan national park fee calculator

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Worked examples: Charyn, 2026 tariffs

Trip	MCI	Tenge
1 person · 1 day · on foot	0.2	865 ₸
2 people · 1 day · car	1.1	4,757.5 ₸
4 people · 2 days · car	2.3	9,947.5 ₸
20 people · 1 day · bus up to 32 seats	9	38,925 ₸

Order No. 232 sets the vehicle charge per entry and the personal charge per day. The calculator adds both lines exactly as they are written in the order.

How it is calculated

Visitor tariffs for protected areas are set not in tenge but as fractions of the Monthly Calculation Index (MCI). For each area the order has two independent lines:

Kazakhstan national parks and reserves compared: area and fees

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

2026 tariffs at MCI 4,325 ₸

Protected area	Category	Area, ha	Per person, day	Car, entry
Irgiz-Turgai	Rezervat	1,173,511	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Semey Ormany	Rezervat	654,175	432.5 ₸	1,730 ₸
Katon-Karagay	National park	643,477	865 ₸	1,730 ₸
Korgalzhyn	Strict reserve	543,171	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Altyn Dala	Rezervat	489,766	432.5 ₸	1,297.5 ₸
Ile-Balkhash	Rezervat	450,253	648.75 ₸	1,297.5 ₸
Zhongar-Alatau	National park	356,022	865 ₸	2,595 ₸
Altyn-Emel	National park	307,653	865 ₸	3,892.5 ₸
Ertis Ormany	Rezervat	277,961	432.5 ₸	1,297.5 ₸
Ustyurt Reserve	Strict reserve	223,342	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Ile-Alatau	National park	199,621	648.75 ₸	1,297.5 ₸
Naurzum	Strict reserve	191,381	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Kokshetau	National park	182,076	865 ₸	1,730 ₸
Kolsai Lakes	National park	161,045	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Sayram-Ugam	National park	149,037	648.75 ₸	1,730 ₸
Tarbagatai	National park	143,551	865 ₸	1,730 ₸
Aksu-Zhabagly	Strict reserve	131,934	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Burabay	National park	129,299	—	1,297.5 ₸ *
Charyn	National park	127,050	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Karkaraly	National park	112,120	865 ₸	2,162.5 ₸
Akzhaiyk	Rezervat	111,500	865 ₸	1,297.5 ₸
Markakol	Strict reserve	102,971	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Buiratau	National park	88,968	648.75 ₸	1,730 ₸
West Altai Reserve	Strict reserve	86,122	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Almaty Reserve	Strict reserve	71,700	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸
Bayanaul	National park	68,453	648.75 ₸	1,730 ₸
Alakol	Strict reserve	65,672	648.75 ₸	2,595 ₸
Ulytau	National park	58,912	648.75 ₸	1,730 ₸
Karatau Reserve	Strict reserve	34,300	865 ₸	3,027.5 ₸

* Burabay charges per day, with a seasonal surcharge

Kazakhstan's protected areas by region

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Planning is easier from geography than from a list of names. Below is the official register cut by region: how many territories and what total area.

Region	Protected areas	Total area, ha
Жамбылской область	1	3 415 806
Акмолинской область	2	725 247
Районы область	1	307 653
Туркестанской область	1	131 934
Карагандинской область	1	88 968
Район область	1	65 672

The region is derived from the districts named in the register, so a territory spanning several regions falls under the first district listed. Exact boundaries are in the resolution itself.

Kokshetau

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kokshetau — state national natural park, Akmola and North Kazakhstan Regions.

Illustration Engraving: a lake among granite hills covered with pine and birch forest

Key figures


Area	182 076 ha
Region	Akmola and North Kazakhstan Regions

Category

State national natural park

Kolsai Lakes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kolsai Lakes State National Natural Park — Almaty Region. Established on 7 February 2007.

Illustration Engraving: a narrow mountain lake in a spruce-forested valley beneath snowy ridges

Key figures


Official name	Kolsai Lakes State National Natural Park
Area	161 045 ha
Region	Almaty Region
Established	7 February 2007

Entrance tariff

0.2 MCI per pedestrian, 0.7 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 865 ₸ and 3,027.5 ₸.

Korgalzhyn

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Korgalzhyn — state nature reserve (zapovednik), Akmola and Karaganda Regions.

Illustration Zoological illustration: greater flamingo in the shallows of a salt lake

Key figures


Area	543 171 ha
Region	Akmola and Karaganda Regions

Category

State nature reserve (zapovednik)

A zapovednik is the strictest category. There is no free entry: permission and prior arrangement are required, usually along marked ecological trails and with an escort.

Markakol

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Markakol — state nature reserve (zapovednik), East Kazakhstan Region.

Illustration Ichthyological illustration: lenok trout in profile, with the head seen from above

Key figures


Area	102 971 ha
Region	East Kazakhstan Region

Category

State nature reserve (zapovednik)

A zapovednik is the strictest category. There is no free entry: permission and prior arrangement are required, usually along marked ecological trails and with an escort.

Nature near Almaty: 15 day trips

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Almaty has mountains, lakes, waterfalls, canyons and desert within reach, and many of them work as day trips. Closest are Medeu, Shymbulak, Kok-Zhailau and Butakov Waterfall, right above the city. Within 1.5–2.5 hours’ drive are Turgen gorge, the Assy plateau and Lake Issyk. Charyn Canyon, about 200 km away, is a long but realistic day. Save the Kolsai Lakes, Kaindy and Altyn-Emel for a weekend with an overnight stay. Below are 15 places in one table, followed by a short note on each.

Naurzum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Naurzum — state nature reserve (zapovednik), Kostanay Region.

Illustration Engraving: pine forest on sand ridges in the steppe, a reed-fringed lake

Key figures


Area	191 381 ha
Region	Kostanay Region

Category

State nature reserve (zapovednik)

A zapovednik is the strictest category. There is no free entry: permission and prior arrangement are required, usually along marked ecological trails and with an escort.

Sayram-Ugam

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sayram-Ugam — state national natural park, Turkestan Region.

Illustration Botanical illustration: a branch of tree juniper (arsha) with its berry-like cones

Key figures


Area	149 037.1 ha
Region	Turkestan Region

Category

State national natural park

A national park is open to visitors: you may stay in the recreation zone after paying the tariff.

Tarbagatai

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tarbagatai — state national natural park, Abai Region.

Key figures


Area	143 550.5 ha
Region	Abai Region

Category

State national natural park

A national park is open to visitors: you may stay in the recreation zone after paying the tariff.

Entrance tariff

0.2 MCI per pedestrian, 0.4 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 865 ₸ and 1,730 ₸.

The tariff is set by appendix 23 to Order No. 232 of 2 October 2024.

The largest protected areas in Kazakhstan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Lists of “Kazakhstan’s main parks” tend to repeat one another and stop at a dozen familiar names. The official register looks different: it holds 114 territories of republican significance, and the largest are not the ones that get written about.

The twenty largest

Protected area	Category	Area, ha
Андасайский государственный природный заказник (зоологический)	sanctuary	3 415 806
Иргиз-Тургайский государственный природный резерват	rezervat	1 173 511
Государственный лесной природный резерват “Семей орманы”	rezervat	654 175
Катон-Карагайский государственный национальный природный парк	national park	643 477
Коргалжынский государственный природный заповедник	zapovednik	543 171
Алматинский государственный природный заказник (комплексный)	sanctuary	542 400
Прибалхашский государственный природный заказник (комплексный)	sanctuary	503 000
Государственный природный резерват “Алтын Дала”	rezervat	489 766
Государственный природный резерват “Иле-Балхаш”	rezervat	450 253
Государственный природный заказник “Пойма реки Иртыш” (комплексный)	sanctuary	377 055
Жонгар-Алатауский государственный национальный природный парк	national park	356 022
Государственный природный резерват “Бокейорда”	rezervat	343 040
Ащиозекский государственный природный заказник (зоологический)	sanctuary	314 504
Государственный национальный природный парк “Алтын-Эмель”	national park	307 653
Тургайский государственный природный заказник (зоологический)	sanctuary	296 000
Государственный лесной природный резерват “Ертіс орманы”	rezervat	277 961
Караойский государственный природный заказник (комплексный)	sanctuary	261 871
Лепсинский государственный природный заказник (зоологический)	sanctuary	258 000
Верхнекоксуйский государственный природный заказник (зоологический)	sanctuary	240 000
Смирновский государственный природный заказник (зоологический)	sanctuary	240 000

Why sanctuaries top the list, not parks

Category determines regime rather than size, but the two are linked. A sanctuary protects particular things — species, habitats, migration routes — and restricts selected activities instead of banning all of them. Setting aside millions of hectares of steppe on those terms is comparatively easy.

The Singing Dune in Altyn-Emel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Singing Dune is a huge sand dune in Altyn-Emel National Park, lying between the Big and Small Kalkan ridges just north of the Ili River. As the crow flies it is about 183 km north-east of Almaty, but the only way in is through the park entrance at Basshi village. The dune is up to 150 m high, and in dry weather the sliding sand gives off a low hum. The season runs from March to November.

Turgen gorge waterfalls

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Turgen gorge is the valley of the Turgen river on the eastern edge of Ile-Alatau National Park, about an hour and a half’s drive from Almaty along the Kuldzha highway. It holds seven waterfalls. The easiest is Bear Waterfall (Medvezhy), about 1–1.5 km from the road on a trail; Kairak Waterfall, at 2,130 m, is a full day’s hike. The most comfortable time to go is from late spring to autumn.

UNESCO heritage in Kazakhstan: seven sites

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Kazakhstan accepted the World Heritage Convention on 29 April 1994. The list currently holds seven sites.

Natural sites

Illustration Engraving: steppe with a chain of shallow lakes and flocks of migrating birds

Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan, inscribed 2008. Covers territories in the north, including the Korgalzhyn and Naurzum reserves. Korgalzhyn marks the northernmost breeding limit of the greater flamingo.

What park services cost: guides, filming, yurts, buses

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Everyone discusses the entry price, yet in the tariff order it takes one or two lines out of twenty-odd. The rest are services — escorts, filming, accommodation, transport — and for a group, a photographer or a tour operator they make up the budget.

All sums use the 2026 index (4,325 ₸). A dash means the territory’s appendix has no such line or the service is not offered.

Guide and ranger escort

18 of 28 territories list it, but the charging unit differs: per group of up to 6, 10, 15 or 20 — 14; per person — 3; per hour — 1. The rates are therefore not directly comparable — the unit is shown next to each. The most common formula is per day for a group of up to 20.

Who runs the parks: four authorities and why it matters

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Asked who runs Kazakhstan’s national parks, most sources say “the ministry of ecology”, and they are 96 per cent right. The remaining four per cent explain several puzzles, price discrepancies among them.

Distribution in the register

Authority	Territories
Комитет лесного хозяйства и животного мира Министерства экологии и природных ресурсов Республики Казахстан	110
Комитет науки Министерства науки и высшего образования Республики Казахстан	2
Управление делами Президента Республики Казахстан	1
Комитет рыбного хозяйства Министерства сельского хозяйства Республики Казахстан	1

What follows

Burabay is a separate system. The country’s most visited park reports to the Presidential Property Management Department. Its tariffs come from their own act, are structured differently and — unlike everywhere else — carry a seasonal surcharge on weekends and public holidays from 1 May to 30 September. That is why it is absent from the general tariff table: the comparison would be invalid.

Zapovednik, park, rezervat: where you will be let in

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Trip planning runs into a wall in a predictable place: the tariff is published, the road is known, and at the gate it turns out you cannot go in. The reason is almost always the category of the territory.

In Kazakhstan these are not shades of strictness but different types of institution with different statutory purposes.

Zapovednik — strict nature reserve

The law defines it as a protected area with the status of a conservation and scientific institution, whose purpose is preserving and studying the natural course of processes, flora and fauna on its territory.

Zhongar-Alatau

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Zhongar-Alatau — state national natural park, Zhetysu Region.

Illustration Botanical illustration: Sievers' apple, the wild ancestor of the cultivated apple, with blossom and fruit

Key figures


Area	356 022 ha
Region	Zhetysu Region

Category

State national natural park