Kanas Lake

Kanas is a narrow glacial lake in the Altai, more than twenty kilometres long, with steep forested slopes on both sides and water that shifts between grey-green and milky blue depending on glacial silt and light. Boardwalks follow the river below the lake past three bends known as Moon Bay, Sleeping Dragon Bay and Fairy Bay, and a long staircase climbs to the Guanyu pavilion for the view down the length of the water. Two villages of log houses, Hemu and Baihaba, sit in the valleys nearby and serve as bases for walking. The landscape has more in common with Siberia than with the rest of Xinjiang.

What you actually see

• Guanyu pavilion - the ridge viewpoint up a long staircase, looking down the whole length of the lake.
• The three river bends - Moon Bay and its neighbours, on the boardwalk below the lake.
• Hemu village - a valley of log houses with a hillside viewpoint over the morning mist.
• The autumn forest - birch and larch turning gold along the slopes in late September.

When to go

The season is short. June and July are green and mild, late September brings the gold forest and the best light, and by late October snow closes much of the access. Morning mist over Hemu is a matter of luck. Book accommodation early for the autumn fortnight, when the park fills and prices in the villages roughly double.

Honest expectations

Getting here takes a long time from anywhere, and inside the park you depend on shuttle buses that queue badly in high season. Costs stack up: entry, shuttles, viewpoint buses, boats. Accommodation in the villages is basic and priced for demand. In peak weeks the boardwalks are shoulder to shoulder, and cold nights start in September.

Nearby

The Hemu and Baihaba valleys, and the river country around Burqin.