Karkaraly

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

Key figures

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.

What to see

• pine forests
• Shaitankol Lake
• rock formations

What Karkaraly is

Karkaraly National Park is a cluster of mountains with patches of pine forest and small lakes around the town of Karkaralinsk, about 220 km south-east of Karaganda. Its best-known trail leads to Shaitankol lake. You may visit the park’s recreation zone on payment of the fee, and the warm season is the easiest time to go.

The park was created on 1 December 1998 by Government Resolution No. 212 and was enlarged in 2009. Karkaralinsk lies at the eastern foot of the mountains at around 815 m.

Mountains and lakes

Figures from Russian Wikipedia.

Shaitankol is ringed by layered granite cliffs and pine forest. Local memory has it that in 1905 Archbishop Mikhail set up a cross on the shore and renamed the lake Holy Lake; the cross later vanished and the old name, Devil’s Lake, came back.

Nature

The main forest trees are pine, birch, aspen, willow and juniper. According to Wikipedia the park holds Ice Age relict plants and 66 rare or endangered plant species, including the Karkaraly barberry. Fauna includes about 234 bird species and 46 mammals, among them wolf, lynx, elk, wild boar and maral.

The climate is milder than the surrounding steppe: July averages +18 to +20 °C and January −12 to −15 °C.

History: the Kent mountains and Kyzylkent

The Kent mountains, described as part of the park, hold several archaeological sites:

• the Kent settlement from the Final Bronze Age (Begazy-Dandybay culture), large enough to be considered a proto-town;
• the ruins of Kyzylkent palace, a 17th-century Buddhist monastery;
• the Taldy II burial ground at the foot of the Kent mountains, which yielded many gold objects.

Trails and facilities

In February 2026 park director Ruslan Tulepbaev described the trail to Shaitankol as the park’s best-known hiking route (Inbusiness.kz). Part of the park is formally zoned for tourism and recreation. Investors already hold four long-term plots (up to 25 years) and eight short-term plots (up to 5 years); sites named for future eco-hotels include Lake Samal and the Zhauyrtogai and Komissarovka areas.

Entry and rules

Karkaraly is a national park: you can stay in the recreation zone once you have paid the fee (MCI fractions in the card above, current amount in the fee calculator). How a park differs from a zapovednik is explained in zapovednik, park, rezervat: where you will be let in. Before you go, run through what to check before visiting a national park. For comparison, see the card for another park of hills and lakes, Bayanaul.

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