Kyzyl-Chin Colored Mountains

The Kyzyl-Chin valley cuts into hills of soft sediment near Chagan-Uzun in the dry Chuya steppe, and the beds exposed there are strongly coloured - red and orange from iron oxides, with bands of yellow, white, green and purple from different mineral content laid down in an ancient lake basin and then tilted and eroded into gullies and ridges. There is no vegetation to speak of, this being one of the driest parts of Russia with under two hundred millimetres of rain a year, so the colour is unbroken. Local tourism calls it Mars, and there are now two signed areas, Mars-1 and Mars-2, with the second further up the valley, quieter and more colourful. The track in from the Trakt crosses a river and needs clearance. Being at around two thousand metres in a rain shadow, it is hot in the day, cold at night, and dusty in wind.

What you actually see

• The banded sediment - red and orange with yellow, white and green bands.
• The bareness - almost no vegetation, in one of Russia's driest areas.
• Mars-1 and Mars-2 - two signed areas, the second further up and quieter.
• The ancient lake beds - sediments laid, tilted and then eroded into gullies.

When to go

May to October; the track is impassable in snow and after heavy rain. Two to four hours. Low sun brings the colour out.

Honest expectations

The access track fords a river and needs clearance - ordinary cars get stuck. Mars-1 is busy and has stalls and quad-bike rental; Mars-2 needs more driving. No shade or water. Walking on the soft slopes erodes them badly.

Nearby

Chagan-Uzun is on the Chuysky Trakt; the Kurai steppe is north.