Markakol

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

Key figures

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.

Entrance tariff

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

The tariff is set by appendix 5 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

• Lake Markakol
• uskuch trout
• larch taiga

What Markakol is

Markakol Nature Reserve protects a mountain lake at 1,447 m in East Kazakhstan, close to the Chinese border. It is one of the hardest places in the country to reach: about 400 km from Ust-Kamenogorsk, with the final stretch on gravel. Summer is the realistic season, and visitors stay on the reserve’s routes and in its buffer zone.

The reserve was created on 4 August 1976. The lake sits in a basin between the Kurchum and Azutau ranges; around 50 streams flow in, and a single river, the Kalzhyr, flows out.

Figures from Russian Wikipedia.

Nature

The lake is ringed by larch taiga, dark coniferous forest and dwarf fir thickets. Wikipedia lists over 700 vascular plant species, 55 mammals and about 250 birds, including brown bear, wolf and black stork, with occasional snow leopard. The fish everyone talks about is the lake lenok, known locally as uskuch, alongside grayling and char.

Getting to Markakol

Inbusiness.kz (2020) gives about 400 km and around 11 hours one way from Ust-Kamenogorsk, including a ferry across the Irtysh. A Tengrinews report from August 2023 describes the last part:

• tarmac ends in Markakol village, with more than 50 km still to go to the lake;
• the rest is gravel, including a serpentine locals call the mother-in-law’s tongue;
• the reporters call a 4x4 essential and advise against driving after dark;
• part of the road runs alongside the border fence with China.

Urunkhayka, the village on the lake shore, has just over 200 residents and no paved streets.

Border zone: do you need a pass?

The area is a border district, but Resolution No. 356 explicitly lists Lake Markakol (an 18 km deep strip) among places where no border-zone pass is required, even for foreigners. Carry your passport or ID anyway. The logic of these exemptions is explained in border zone permits: where you need one and where you do not.

Trails and rules

Markakol is a zapovednik, the strictest category of protected area (how the categories differ). According to Inbusiness.kz, tourism and recreation are allowed in the buffer zone; staff set up the Small Markakol Circle excursion route and the Markakol Trail nature path, with shelters, fire pits and portable toilets. Recreational fishing is limited to residents of the buffer zone at designated spots. At the time the reserve received roughly 500 to 700 visitors a year.

Reports from 2020 and 2023 found no dedicated tourist bases at the lake, so plan your overnight in advance. The MCI fee is in the card above; the fee calculator converts it. The neighbouring mountain park in East Kazakhstan is Katon-Karagay.

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