Karkaraly National Park

Karkaraly protects a group of granite hills reaching around 1,400 metres, forested with pine and birch and holding several small lakes, standing out of the dry Karaganda steppe as an island of woodland and water. Shaitankol, the devil's lake, sits in a rock basin reached by a walk up from the town and carries a legend about a lost lover; Bassein and Ulkenkol are the other waters. The town of Karkaralinsk at the foot was founded in 1824 as a Cossack outpost and kept a nineteenth-century centre with a mosque and merchant buildings. Rock formations, caves and petroglyphs are scattered through the hills, and walking trails run from the town into the forest.

History

The area was first protected in 1884 as the Karkaralinsk Forest Reserve, work on its forest cordons began in 1889, and the forest warden's wooden cabin of 1913 still stands; the national park was created by decree on 1 December 1998 (Wikipedia, Karkaraly National Park).

What you'll find

• Shaitankol - the small lake held in a granite basin above the town.
• Pine and birch forest - the woodland covering the hills.
• Granite formations - the weathered rock along the ridges.
• Karkaralinsk - the nineteenth-century town at the foot of the hills.

When to go

June to September for the walking and the lakes. Winter is severely cold with deep snow, though the area is used for skiing locally. July and August are the busy months with holiday camps full.

Practical notes

Facilities are Soviet-era holiday bases of variable standard. The road from Karaganda is long and rough in places. Trails are unmarked and a map or guide helps. Litter around the popular lakes is a problem.

Nearby

Karaganda lies west; Bayanaul is north.

Key facts