The Ereymentau Mountains: a low rocky range in the steppe east of Astana

The Ereymentau Mountains (also spelled Yereymentau) are a range of low rocky hills about 127 km in a straight line east of Astana, in the Akmola and Karaganda regions of Kazakhstan. They peak at 901 m and carry a branch of Buiratau National Park, valued for steppe plants, wildlife and Stone and Bronze Age burials. This is a quiet nature trip for summer, not a dramatic mountain landscape.

What the Ereymentau Mountains are and where they sit

Ereymentau is a compact island of rocky hills and ridges inside the Kazakh Upland, the vast area of low worn-down hills that covers much of central and northern Kazakhstan. The name is usually translated from Kazakh as “small barrier of mountains” or “small mountains”, which sets expectations well. The town of Ereymentau lies at the northern end of the range and the village of Beloyarka at the southern end.

By Kazakh Wikipedia, the massif runs 70–75 km from north to south-west and is about 15 km wide. English Wikipedia describes the slopes as mostly smooth, with rocky outcrops and cliffs in places; Kazakh Wikipedia calls them steep and cut by gullies. A narrow band of unploughed foothill steppe surrounds the hills.

For a traveller, the distances mean this is a day or overnight trip from Astana, not from Almaty, which is far to the south.

The ridges: modest heights, wide views

No ridge here needs climbing gear: the range is made of several moderate ridges aligned north–south in the north and south-west to north-east in the south. The figures below come from Wikipedia and show how gentle the relief is against the surrounding plain.

The Olenti river flows along the eastern foot of the range. Tributaries of the Sileti start on the western slopes, and the Moiyldy, which feeds the Ishim, rises at the southern end. If you want relief and rock rather than rolling hills, aim for the southern sector around Akdym.

Why scientists value it: a refuge for steppe plants and animals

The main reason Ereymentau is protected is biological, not scenic. Russian Wikipedia describes the massif as a refuge where plants from very different floras met along old watershed lines, and counts over 400 species of vascular plants on a small area. A 1981–1982 field survey recorded over 350 species, so the figure depends on the count you read.

Rare species include Krylovia, a relict of dry steppe once widespread in Asia and now known in small populations near Lake Baikal and in Kazakhstan; it was found on the northern spurs of the Sunkariya ridge. In the protected areas you can still occasionally see Siberian and other irises, pasque flowers, wood anemone, small fritillary and a broad-leaved orchid, plus black currant, raspberry and hawthorn. Black alder, listed in the national Red Book, grows mixed with birch and aspen.

The animal list mixes mountain, forest and steppe species: argali, Siberian roe deer, wolf, corsac fox, bobak marmot, stoat, black grouse, grey partridge, ruddy shelduck, greylag and white-fronted geese.

Burial mounds and stone statues

The hills hold numerous burial grounds from the Stone and Bronze Ages, Scythian-era monuments and Turkic stone statues. We could not confirm which of them are signposted, how to reach specific sites, or whether any are open to visitors in an organised way. Treat burials and statues as you would any grave: look, photograph, do not climb on them or move stones.

When to go: June to August, with July the wettest month

Summer is the only comfortable window, and it is short. The figures below are computed normals for 2011–2020 from the ERA5 reanalysis at a grid point at 885 m, close to the height of the highest ridges; the lower valleys and steppe are likely to be a little warmer.

June to August brings daytime highs around 21 °C and nights of 10–12 °C, so pack a warm layer even in July. July is also the wettest month, with about 86 mm of precipitation, more than double most other months, so expect showers. May and September are possible, with highs near 14–16 °C but nights only around 4 °C. From November to March daytime highs stay below zero, and January averages about −14 °C by day and −22 °C at night: this is serious steppe winter with no shelter from the wind on the ridges.

Getting there and what stands in the way

The practical challenge is logistics, not terrain. Ereymentau town is the gateway at the northern end, and Astana is the nearest major city at about 127 km in a straight line; road distance will be longer. We could not confirm bus or train schedules from Astana, road conditions into the hills, or where visitors may enter the national park branch.

Plan on arranging transport in advance and carrying offline maps. If you want lakes and pine-covered hills in the same part of the country, compare with Zerenda near Kokshetau; for another granite range in the central steppe, see Ulytau.