Buiratau National Park: a steppe-and-forest park in the hills east of Astana

Buiratau National Park is a protected area of dry steppe, low ridges and patches of relict forest in the Yereymentau Mountains, east of Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. It was created on 11 March 2011 and is known for an isolated herd of about 200 argali wild sheep and 227 recorded bird species. Expect open country rather than dramatic peaks, and a trip that works best in summer.

Where Buiratau is and how far it is from Astana

Buiratau lies in the Kazakh Uplands of central Kazakhstan. It straddles two regions: the northern part, about 60,800 ha, is in Yereymentau District of Akmola Region, and the southern part, 28,154 ha, is in Karaganda Region. Sources disagree on the Karaganda district: Russian Wikipedia gives Osakarovka, English Wikipedia gives Sarybel. The total area, by Kazakh Wikipedia, is 88,968 ha.

English Wikipedia places the park about 60 km east of Astana. The park’s reference point used here is about 131 km from Astana in a straight line and about 171 km from Karaganda. The two Astana figures differ and the sources do not explain why, so treat both figures as rough and check the road distance to the entrance you plan to use.

The park office is in the village of Molodezhny in Karaganda Region. We could not confirm any public transport to the park or between its sections, so plan on a car with a driver unless you find a scheduled service locally.

What the landscape looks like

This is a transition zone: dry steppe in the north and more forest in the hills to the south. The relief is low ridges and hills with plains between them, not alpine mountains. Alder and birch grow along the streams, and the park protects relict black alder woods and birch groves at the southern edge of their range.

Many closed basins hold very shallow salt lakes, less than 1 m deep. The largest lakes are Bozaigyr and Azhybai. Fresh groundwater lies 1 to 17 m below the surface.

Wildlife: argali, maral and steppe birds

The headline animal is the Yereymentau argali, a wild sheep population separated from other herds and numbering about 200. A maral (red deer) population of about 100 is being established in the park through acclimatisation work.

Birdlife is the deeper interest. Of 227 recorded species, 117 nest here by Russian Wikipedia, or 127 by Kazakh Wikipedia. Thirteen nesting species are on Kazakhstan’s Red List, including the Eurasian spoonbill, whooper swan, white-headed duck, velvet scoter, steppe eagle, crane, great bustard, little bustard, hazel grouse and an owl. The habitats range across steppe, scrub, forest, meadow and wetland, so a single route can turn up quite different species.

Among the plants are alder, ferns, spring adonis, Gesner’s tulip and more than 30 other rare or range-restricted species. Feather grass and Siberian pea-tree shrubs are common across the open ground.

When to go: short summer, long hard winter

Summer is the realistic season, and it is also when the park runs its tours.

These are ERA5 reanalysis normals for 2011–2020 at a grid point at 885 m, not station readings. June to August bring daytime highs of about 21 °C and nights around 10–12 °C: mild, never hot. May and September are cooler, with highs of 14–16 °C and nights near 4 °C, so pack warm layers. From November to March daytime highs stay below freezing, and January nights average about -22 °C.

July is the wettest month in this data, with about 86 mm. The yearly total in the reanalysis is about 420 mm, while English Wikipedia gives 280 mm for the park, so the area may be drier than the grid suggests.

Visiting: routes, fees and what is hard without a car

The park has four tourist routes, and individual and group tours are offered in summer. A small admission fee is charged at the entrance. We could not confirm the current amount, opening hours, which routes are open, or whether a guide is required.

For a traveller without a car or Russian, the main obstacle is access: we found no bus information, and the park lies east of Astana. Arrange transport in advance and confirm the meeting point. If you want another lake-and-hills trip in the north, Zerenda near Kokshetau is the nearest other place covered on this site by straight-line distance. Ulytau is a much longer trip into the steppe for granite hills and history.

Where to go for open grassland, and where you need approval first, is covered in the Kazakh steppe.