First President Park in Almaty: a large city park on former apple orchards

First President Park is an urban park in the Bostandyq District of southern Almaty, at the corner of Navoi Street and Al-Farabi Avenue. It opened to the public in July 2010 on land that was once state apple orchards. It works as an easy half-day in the city: fountains, open lawns and young plantings of Tien Shan spruce, with no hiking or mountain road needed.

What the park is and where it sits

The park is a city green space, not a nature reserve: plan on paved walks and landscaped grounds. It lies in the southern part of Almaty, about 6 km in a straight line from the city centre, at the meeting of two main roads, Navoi Street and Al-Farabi Avenue.

The entrance is marked by a semicircular arcade. Three car parks serve the park, reached from Sadyqov Street, Al-Farabi Avenue and Dulati Street. We could not confirm which bus or metro routes stop nearby, so a visitor without a car should check a city map app or take a taxi.

The park is large, so allow time for a walk. The English and Kazakh Wikipedia articles describe the area differently: the Kazakh one gives 73 ha in total, and its master plan includes 9.5 ha of water works and 4.8 ha of mountain-ridge zones, while the English one lists only the 9.5 ha and 4.8 ha figures.

From apple orchards to a park

The site was covered with state apple orchards, which fell into neglect after the Soviet Union broke up. In the mid-1990s much of this land was privatised for building, and this plot was meant to become a gated cottage settlement called Crystal Air Village.

In 2000 the land sale was cancelled and a park was planned instead, first under the working name 21st Century Park. Planting started in 2001 to an ecological landscaping plan; one of the first trees, an oak, was planted that year by Nursultan Nazarbayev, after whom the park is named. About 100 spruces and birches followed in 2008 to mark Almaty’s part in the Beijing Olympic torch relay, and another 100 Tien Shan spruces in 2011. Renovations were carried out in 2013 and 2014.

This means most trees are young by park standards: expect open, sunny ground rather than deep shade.

Fountains, the eagle monument and the hill

The fountain complex is the centre of any visit. English Wikipedia describes five linked bowls at different levels, with a 30-metre central jet topped by a crown sculpture bearing zodiac medallions; Kazakh Wikipedia mentions six-cascade fountains in its description of the park still under construction and calls the main fountain the largest in Almaty, holding 2,820 cubic metres of water.

Above the fountain stands the sculptural composition Kazakhstan, unveiled on 11 November 2011 for the 20th anniversary of independence. It takes the form of a golden eagle in bronze, granite and marble, with a figure of Nazarbayev at the centre and models of buildings from Almaty, Astana and other parts of the country on the wings.

Kazakh Wikipedia also lists a viewing platform at the foot of a 12-metre hill inside the park. A climate-controlled glasshouse, the Klimatron, and an artificial mountain landscape with a lake were part of the plans; we could not confirm whether they have been built.

When to go

Late spring and early autumn are the most comfortable months for a long walk here.

These figures are ERA5 reanalysis normals for 2011–2020 at a grid point at 788 m, not a weather station, but the park sits at a similar level in the city. July averages a high of about 29°C, and with young trees there is limited shade, so a midday walk can be tiring. Winter days hover around freezing, with January lows near −8°C. April and May are the wettest months, about 146 mm and 115 mm, so pack a light rain layer in spring.

We could not confirm the months when the fountains run; check before planning a visit around them.

How it fits an Almaty trip

Treat the park as a city stop rather than a destination of its own. It is close to the southern edge of Almaty, which puts it on the same side of town as the roads into the mountains: Medeu is about 14 km in a straight line and Kok-Tobe about 9 km.

A common use for it is a gentle day after a mountain outing, or an evening walk when the summer heat drops. For full-day nature trips from the city, see nature near Almaty.