Gorelnik Gorge above Medeu: waterfalls, trail and season

Gorelnik (Kuigensai on maps) is a forested side gorge of the Malaya Almatinka, the valley that runs from Almaty up past the Medeu ice rink to Shymbulak ski resort. It makes a half day from the city by public bus, with two waterfalls at the top and a warm spring at the bottom.

Getting there: bus 12 or 21, then 1.5 km on foot

The trailhead is the ranger’s house about 1.5 km past Medeu Dam on the Shymbulak road (Zabugorshiki).

1. Bus to Medeu. City buses 12 and 21 run daily from 07:00 to 20:00 every 30 minutes to the Medeu terminus by the rink (Shymbulak operator). Other mountain spots you can reach the same way are on our car-free trips page.
2. Up to the visitor centre. Either follow the road beyond the dam towards Shymbulak, or take the Student Trail, which starts at the same bus stop, passes below the dam and comes out at the Gorelnik visitor centre (operator, 24.07.2026).
3. Into the gorge. A signed trail climbs through spruce forest from the ranger’s house (Informburo, 2023), with river crossings further up.

GPS points from OpenStreetMap: visitor centre 43.14200, 77.06571; lower waterfall 43.12127, 77.05341; upper waterfall 43.12051, 77.05399. Download them offline before you go.

The climb: about 800 m from the rink

Most of the height comes after the visitor centre. The road gains about 200 m; the forest trail gains the other 550 m or so.

Waterfall heights above are computed from a 90 m elevation model and can be tens of metres off on a steep slope. Sputnik puts the falls at about 2,500 m; Trekking Club gives a trail range of 1,850 to 2,500 m.

For a relaxed day, turn round at the lower waterfall. Kumbel via Gorelnik is a hard mountain day with a steep grass and scree finish; see Kok-Zhailau for that route.

Two waterfalls and the Eagle’s Nest

The lower fall is about 5 m high and the upper one, about 20 m, drops in steps (Sputnik, 2021; Zabugorshiki describes three tiers). There are no official measurements. On OSM the two falls sit only about 100 m apart. Higher up, the Eagle’s Nest viewpoint at 2,543 m looks down the whole gorge, and campers often pitch tents there (Sxodim).

In winter the falls freeze into ice. One user review says the fall was buried by avalanche snow one winter; treat that as a warning sign, not a verified fact.

The warm spring is not Alma-Arasan

Visitors often mix up two “hot springs” near Almaty. Gorelnik’s is a borehole at the gorge mouth, next to the visitor centre at about 1,900 m, with water at 20–22 °C and 27 °C at the outflow (Sxodim, 2023). A private entrepreneur built and maintains it (Bes.media, 2024). In 2023 Sxodim described it as free and open around the clock; we could not confirm that it still works the same way during the building works.

Alma-Arasan is a different valley, off the Big Almaty gorge, with natural springs between 20.5 and 39.7 °C. If you want genuinely hot water, that is the one.

Why locals remember Gorelnik: the 1973 mudflow

On 15 July 1973 a mudflow destroyed the old Gorelnik tourist base (Forbes Kazakhstan, 2015). Glacial lakes burst at 17:54, the flow broke the Mynzhilki dam and reached Medeu Dam at 18:17 as a wave about 15 m high; the dam held (Informburo, 2017). The death toll at the base was never officially published. Figures range from “over a hundred” (Sputnik) to an eyewitness estimate of about 7 staff and 50 tourists (Informburo).

The practical lesson: the gorge floor is a mudflow path. Stay out when the emergency service issues storm or mudflow warnings. Our mudflow guide explains the warning system.

Gorelnik weather by month

No weather station operates in the gorge, so the chart shows a computed ERA5 reanalysis normal for 2011–2020 at the visitor centre’s coordinates. The waterfalls are 500 m higher and cooler.

In the computed normal the warmest month is July, averaging 20.1 °C by day and 9.2 °C at night; the coldest is January, at −5.4 °C by day and −12.2 °C at night. Nights average below freezing in 6 months of the year. April is the wettest month with about 146 mm, out of about 786 mm a year.

Trekking Club gives May to October as the season. Summer afternoons often bring thunderstorms in the Almaty mountains, so start early. For how temperature drops with height, see mountain weather.

Fees, rules and safety

Who manages it. Sources disagree. The Shymbulak operator and Sxodim place Gorelnik in Ile-Alatau National Park; the city’s Medeu nature park covers 708 ha in the Medeu, Shymbulak and Butakovka valleys, and Gorelnik is not on that list (NUR.KZ, 2024).

Fees. The Ile-Alatau tariff is 0.15 MCI per walker per day and 0.3 MCI per car (Tengrinews, 09.01.2026). We found no checkpoint or fee notice specific to Gorelnik. The park fee calculator converts MCI to tenge.

Ticks. Almaty is a tick-endemic area and the Medeu valley is on the monitoring routes. By 19 May 2026 the city had recorded 2,023 tick-bite visits and two encephalitis cases in unvaccinated people (Zakon.kz). Use repellent from April to summer and check yourself afterwards; more on ticks, snakes and bears.

Avalanches. In winter, avalanche levels are posted on Shymbulak’s boards. In March 2026 avalanches were recorded at 2,000–3,000 m and above in both Almaty river basins (Finance.kz, citing the emergency service). Do not go above the visitor centre in snow without checking conditions.

Gorelnik is one stop on a longer valley. For the whole picture from Medeu up to the Tuyuksu glacier, see the Small Almaty Gorge guide.