Lake Moiyldy: mud spa lake near Pavlodar

Lake Moiyldy near Pavlodar: mud, brine and how to get there

A tiny, very salty lake 15 km from Pavlodar where a mud-cure clinic opened as early as 1912. Come for treatments rather than for swimming.

IllustrationEngraving: a small salt lake with a white rim in the northern steppe

Lake Moiyldy near Pavlodar: when to go, month by month

January: possible
February: possible
March: possible
April: possible
May: good
June: good
July: good
August: good
September: good
October: possible
November: possible
December: possible

The resort is open all year. Summer is more comfortable for a walk on the shore.

Lake Moiyldy near Pavlodar: why go

Moiyldy's brine and mud

Sulphate-chloride brine at 250 g/l and silt mud, with reserves put at 150,000 tonnes in a regional encyclopaedia.

A mud clinic since 1912

Zakon.kz says merchant Slavtsov opened it on the shore in 1912. Wikipedia counts the resort from 1922, when it passed to the city.

Close to Pavlodar

About 15 km northeast on the Pavlodar–Uspenka road, which makes it a realistic half-day trip. Wikipedia also lists bus No. 66.

A treatment lake, not a beach

Only 0.5 sq km and very salty. For ordinary swimming, the suitable lakes lie to the south in Bayanaul.

Lake Moiyldy (also Muyaldy or Cheremukhovo) is a salt lake in the Kulunda steppe, about 15 km northeast of Pavlodar in northeast Kazakhstan. It covers just 0.5 sq km, but its brine reaches 250 g/l, and a year-round sanatorium on the shore uses the lake’s silt mud. This is a place for a spa stay or a curious half-day out of Pavlodar, and not a swimming lake.

What the numbers mean for a visitor

Fact	Value
From Pavlodar	about 15 km northeast
Lake area	0.5 sq km
Brine	250 g/l
Silt mud reserves	150,000 tonnes
Drinking-water borehole	700 m deep, 2.6 g/l

These figures come from Wikipedia, citing a 2003 regional encyclopaedia; we found no recent measurements. If you want open water to swim in, the granite lakes of Bayanaul to the south, such as Zhasybay, are the obvious alternative.

A resort older than Soviet tourism

Zakon.kz (2018) says the Pavlodar merchant Slavtsov opened a paid mud clinic on the shore in 1912, and that it passed to the city health department in 1922. Wikipedia dates the resort from 1922. It ran seasonally until 1975, then all year.

How the treatments work

Treatments use silt mud, diluted brine baths and mineral water from a 700 m borehole. Wikipedia names joint, spine and nerve conditions and gynaecological problems among the uses. This is reference information only and none of our sources cites clinical research. Mud treatments have contraindications that our sources do not list, so ask your doctor first.

Getting there

Leave Pavlodar on the Pavlodar–Uspenka road.
Without a car, check bus No. 66 locally.
Bring fresh water and spare shoes for the shore.

Treatments run year-round, and a walk on the shore is most comfortable in summer. Other northern lakes are in our lakes guide.

Not verified yet We could not confirm prices, whether staff speak English, current bus times, or whether you can use the shore without a sanatorium booking.