Zhongar-Alatau

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

Key figures

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, 0.6 MCI per car. In 2026 that is 865 ₸ and 2,595 ₸.

The tariff is set by appendix 17 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

• wild apple forests
• Koksu River
• glaciers

What Zhongar-Alatau is

Zhongar-Alatau National Park protects the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Zhetysu Region: wild Sievers apple forests, glaciers and high lakes. Since July 2026 the natural base for a visit is the new visitor centre in the village of Topolevka. The park has 15 tourist routes, and no border-zone pass is needed for its Sarkand district section.

The park was created on 30 April 2010 by Government Resolution No. 370 and covers Aksu, Sarkand and Alakol districts. It has three branches:

Data from Russian Wikipedia.

Sievers apple and the park’s wildlife

The park’s flagship is its forests of Sievers apple (Malus sieversii), regarded as the wild ancestor of the world’s cultivated apples, along with Niedzwetzky’s apple. Wild apricot, barberry, Tian Shan cherry, Albert’s rose and Meyer’s currant also grow here. Wikipedia counts 2,168 plant species, 76 of them endemic to the range.

Fauna includes 238 bird species and more than 50 mammals, among them snow leopard, Turkestan lynx, Tian Shan brown bear, golden eagle and saker falcon. Wikipedia notes that for animal diversity the park is second in Kazakhstan only to Altai.

Routes and the Topolevka visitor centre

24.kz reported on 16 July 2026 that a park visitor centre had opened in Topolevka: a hotel and two guest houses with room for up to 60 people. The Sarkand district authorities handed the complex to the park free of charge.

What is known about the routes:

• the park has 15 tourist routes in total;
• route No. 3 leads to the Sievers apple stands and was walked by 913 people in 2025;
• from route No. 3 you can reach the lower Zhasylkol lake;
• trips from Topolevka also go to Shumsky glacier and Akkol lake.

Border zone and rules

The park lies in border districts, but Resolution No. 356 names the Zhongar-Alatau national park in Sarkand district among places where no border-zone pass is required, even for foreigners. Carry your passport or ID. How these exemptions work is explained in border zone permits: where you need one and where you do not.

As a national park, Zhongar-Alatau lets you 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 covered in zapovednik, park, rezervat: where you will be let in. If you are combining the trip with the lake, see the Alakol card.

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