Bektau-Ata

Bektau-Ata is a granite intrusion rising to about a thousand metres out of otherwise flat steppe north of Lake Balkhash, exposed and weathered into rounded domes, tors, basins and clefts, which after hundreds of kilometres of level ground makes it striking. Water collects in hollows in the rock, and a cave on the massif holds a pool used by visitors, with a spring nearby. Birch and aspen grow in the sheltered valleys, and the massif carries a different flora from the surrounding desert steppe. It is a place of local pilgrimage as well as recreation, named after a holy man, and Kazakh visitors camp among the rocks in summer. There is no infrastructure.

What you actually see

• The granite domes - the rounded rock forms rising from the steppe.
• The cave and pool - the water-filled cavity on the massif.
• Sheltered woodland - birch and aspen in the rock valleys.
• The steppe horizon - the flat plain the massif interrupts.

When to go

May to September; summer is hot but the rock valleys give shade, and spring brings flowers. Winter is severe and access poor. Weekends bring campers from Balkhash and Karaganda.

Honest expectations

There are no facilities, water supply or marked paths. The track in from the highway is rough. Litter from campers is a problem in the accessible areas. Scrambling on the granite is loose in places.

Nearby

Lake Balkhash lies south; Karaganda is north.