Kolsay Lakes National Park, Kazakhstan
The Kolsay Lakes National Park is located around a 3 hour drive from the city of Almaty, so we hired a car to get there. We based ourselves in the small alpine village of Saty which is about 12km from the visitors centre and Kolsay Lakes hiking trail. The roads from Almaty to the start of the hike are now fully paved and in relatively good condition. There is a stretch of around 10km in the middle of the route where the tarmac is shredded and could damage your car so make sure to drive carefully!
My highlight of my time in Kazakhstan, the Kolsay Lakes are surrounded with spruce trees and mountains and the views provided, especially from the second lake, are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen anywhere in the world. We were blessed with perfect hiking conditions on the day.
There are three lakes to visit in the national park, and unfortunately due to access issues and time limits we did not see the third. However, we did start the hike towards it and that section of the Kolsay Lakes hiking trail was probably my favourite, as it provided views down over the second (or middle) lake which were simply breathtaking.
Start/end point: Kolsay Lakes visitors centre, on the edge of the first/lower lake
Average duration: 9 hours out and back (if visiting the third lake I’d suggest taking camping equipment as the entire route would be impossible in one day)
Distance: 21.5km
Elevation gain: 1230m
Max elevation: 2413m
When to go: April - October, be careful in rainy, snowy or icy conditions
Difficulty: Strenuous
Maps/Info: The route is out and back and initially the hiking trail is fairly well trodden - along the first lake and even to the second lake. It is from the second lake that the walk gets difficult to follow, making it time consuming to try and reach the third lake.
All Trails provides a downloadable map for the hike (ONLY TO THE MIDDLE LAKE - NOT THE THIRD) which will sync onto Google maps/Maps me/other formats as required:
https://www.alltrails.com/en-gb/explore/trail/kazakhstan/almaty/kolsai-lake-1-lake-2-trail
The hike:
Prior to arriving at the visitors centre you will have to pay to enter the national park. It cost around £4 for two people for a day permit when we visited. When you pay for the permit, it’s a good idea to enquire as to whether you are allowed to visit the third lake; as it is in the border zone with Kyrgyzstan and they often change the rules for tourists. When we asked, we weren’t sure they fully understood what we were enquiring about, but didn’t get a strict “no” so we thought we’d go for it if we could.
Tom looking out over the first lake
Starting out early in the morning from the first or lower lake at 1800m, there is a boardwalk which goes along the edge to one side of the lake, but it is the other side of the lake (the right hand side as you are looking at it) that you want to start your hike. The route is signposted towards the middle lake, and there are signs which say ‘Horse Trail’ and ‘Hiking Trail’ as in recent years they have separated the two. The newer hiking trail they’ve installed is much more strenuous along the first lake, but sticks close to the edge and provides great views in the morning light.
Signpost at the edge of the first lake
Signpost at the first lake
As you continue on along the first lake, which is about 1km in length, you will see various camping spots on the edges of the lake - it is very popular during the summer here. After the first lake you come down quite dramatically to the water level and follow the water flow through forest areas for quite some time. After this, the path starts to go uphill quite steeply and there are several places you may have to cross the water and do some clambering over rocks.
Hiking along the first lake
Ice on the ground
This section feels quite strenuous, so when you reach the sign that says you’ve only hiked 2.5km it can feel a bit demoralising! Maybe it’s here that I should add that this hike is definitely the hardest hike I’ve ever done - and I would say I am an experienced hiker of mountains and peaks, so it’s definitely not for the faint hearted.
Continuing on, and very steeply uphill, you will find some sections muddy underfoot so be careful. There are also a lot of loose and falling rocks in this section, and you may need to use your hands to help you when climbing. When hiking, Tom and I said that this section feels like “every step you could break your ankle” which is especially true on the way down later on.
Stick to the path when you see these signs!
Time feels as though it slows down but eventually the hiking trail leaves the water flow and goes more into the woodland area, levelling out for a short while before again taking you very steeply uphill for another few kilometres. There are two rest areas on the way to the second or middle lake, so make use of them and sit down for a while when needed.
Eventually you will have done the climb up to the second lake at 2250m, which is only around 6km from the first, but takes around three hours to complete. You will be rewarded with lake, mountain and spruce tree views which will take your breath away (if it’s come back since the climb that is!). Have your lunch at the edge of the lake, and if your bonkers like Tom go for an icy dip!
Because we both love a challenge, we decided to continue on towards the third lake if we could find the trail. We walked in the wrong direction for a good kilometre before turning back on ourselves and finding the trail again. It runs to the left of the second lake, and of course it begins with a very steep uphill section. For the first 200m you are climbing almost vertically up a muddy and narrow path. Taking a rest when you get high enough to lean on the trees is recommended.
After around a kilometre of uphill hiking, followed by flatter plateaus and then more uphill hiking, the path levelled out completely - much to my relief. It was then that Tom came to a halt in front of me. Looking up - I’d spent much of the last ten minutes looking down and checking my footholds whilst climbing - I sucked in a breath and gasped out loud, whooping at the view. It was the most incredible vista I’d ever seen. It looked like Canada or Switzerland, not what I’d expected from Kazakhstan at all.
The following couple of kilometres were lovely. A flat, easy hiking trail and incredible views. The sun was out and it was warm. We stopped frequently to take photos and drink it all in.
Continuing uphill again and into a more wooded area, we reached a sign that said we could not walk any further due to the border zone. We were confused as we’d asked for permission and hadn’t been told about this section of the trail. Hesitantly we continued past the sign and had a look around - the trail ended abruptly and we felt a bit unsure. As we had no permission in writing and we couldn’t locate the onward trail, we decided to turn back.
We had heard that the entire route to the third lake at 2800m was around a 3 hour hike from the second (that’s 6 hours return, in addition to the 4 hours back to the start!!). It was around 1.30pm and we knew it would take us at least 3 or 4 hours to get back to the start of the trail, and the sun was due to set at 5.30pm, so it was a bit of a risk to continue anyway.
We hiked back the way we’d come, which was difficult in places due to mud and loose rocks. I often find going downhill much harder than going uphill due to the strain on knees and it being much easier to trip and fall. Regardless of this we made it back to the place we began hiking, the first lake and visitors centre, at around 4.30pm, where I got a well deserved coffee and Tom had a beer. We also had food in a small restaurant nearby which although expensive was nice.
It’s fair to say we were both absolutely exhausted after this hike, and although we’d do it again it’s not something to be done without the proper gear and experience!