Ile-Alatau National Park

Ile-Alatau covers around two hundred thousand hectares of the northern Zailiysky Alatau immediately south of Almaty, and the relief is extreme: from around 1,200 metres at the city edge to Talgar peak at 4,973 metres within twenty kilometres, so the park runs through steppe, apple and juniper forest, Tien Shan spruce, alpine meadow and glacier in a single climb. Wild apple, Malus sieversii, grows here and this region is generally accepted as the ancestral home of the domestic apple. Gorges cut into the range give access, Big Almaty, Malaya Almatinka, Turgen, Butakovka and others, each with its own road, trails and huts. Snow leopard live in the park and are almost never seen.

What you actually see

• The altitude range - steppe to glacier within twenty kilometres.
• Tien Shan spruce - the dark narrow-crowned forest on the slopes.
• Wild apple - the ancestral Malus sieversii in the lower belt.
• The gorges - Big Almaty, Turgen and the other access valleys.

When to go

June to September for hiking, when the passes are clear and the meadows in flower. Winter brings skiing and closed high routes. Spring brings mudflow risk in the gorges. Avalanche danger persists into May at altitude.

Honest expectations

Mudflows and avalanches are a genuine hazard and gorges close without notice. Trails are unmarked in places and rescue is limited. Entry fees apply at several separate points. Weekend crowds fill the accessible lower gorges.

Nearby

Big Almaty Lake is in one gorge; Medeu and Shymbulak in another.