Assy Plateau: summer pastures above Turgen and the Assy-Turgen Observatory

The Assy Plateau (Asy Zhailauy in Kazakh) is a broad high pasture on an eastern spur of the Trans-Ili Alatau, about 75 km east of Almaty. You reach it by driving up the Turgen gorge — Tengrinews reckons 2–2.5 hours each way. The plateau runs east towards the Bartogay reservoir, the Asy river winds along it, and in summer it is dotted with flocks of sheep and herds of horses. On the western rim stands the white dome of the Assy-Turgen Observatory. Go in late spring or summer, in an SUV or a sturdy crossover.

The plateau in numbers

Why do altitudes differ by 500 m? 2,750 m is also the observatory’s altitude in Tengrinews’ 2017 piece, so the higher figure most likely describes the western rim where the telescopes sit, while the pasture floor is around 2,200–2,400 m. The length gap probably comes down to whether you count all the way to Bartogay or just the open zhailau.

Getting there

There is one way up: east on the Kuldja highway, turn off for Turgen, then climb the Turgen gorge past waterfalls and trout farms. Tengrinews (2020) describes the road as alternating asphalt and dirt with several deep potholes, passing birch groves, dense spruce and sharp rock outcrops. Day groups usually stop where the Kishi Turgen and Shin Turgen rivers meet before driving up to the plateau viewpoints.

Russian Wikipedia notes that visitors register at the park office in Turgen village and that fishing and mushroom picking need a separate permit. The national park eco-post at the gorge entrance collects the fee.

If you have an extra day, Tengrinews suggests continuing off-road east to the Bartogay reservoir on the Chilik river — with fords and two passes.

When to go

Late spring and summer are the stars here: green grass, flowers growing straight out of the rocks, herders on the move. Autumn is calmer and still lovely. The plateau is known for low-hanging cloud; photographer Pavel Fedorov, quoted by Tengrinews, likes to arrive just after a summer thunderstorm, or a couple of hours before one.

The Assy-Turgen Observatory

The white dome locals nickname the “lollipop” belongs to the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute. According to Tengrinews (2017), the site was chosen in the 1970s when Almaty’s city glow began to spoil observations at the older Kamenskoe Plateau station. Construction began in 1975 and regular observations started in 1981 with a one-metre Zeiss telescope. It was renamed Assy in 2009.

The main instrument is a 1.5 m AZT-20 reflector, whose tower was finished just before the Soviet collapse. The telescope spent about 25 years in storage and is now described as the largest in Kazakhstan. A 50 cm system with a CCD camera watches geostationary orbit, including the KazSat-2 and KazSat-3 satellites. It is a working science site with no public visiting programme that we could find.

Practical tips

• Start early. Day groups, per Tengrinews, leave Almaty at 7–8 a.m. and are back around 4 p.m. — the 2–2.5 hours each way eat half the day.
• Pair it with Turgen. The gorge on the way is a 1–2 day outing in its own right; to see both the waterfalls and the plateau, plan a night.
• Watch the sky. Summer storms roll over the plateau and cloud sits low — check the forecast before taking the dirt road up.
• Going further east? The off-road track to Bartogay has fords and two passes; budget another day.

Fees

Assy is part of Ile-Alatau National Park, so the park fee under Order No. 232 applies: 0.15 MRP per walker and 0.3 MRP per car. Convert it with our fee calculator and read what to check before a park visit.

Nearby

• Turgen waterfalls — on the way up.
• Ile-Alatau National Park — rules and checkpoints.
• Issyk Lake — a gorge further west, above Esik town.
• Nature near Almaty: 15 day trips.