Koytendag Nature Reserve

In the country's remote east, where the Koytendag range rises to Aýrybaba, at 3,139 metres the highest point in Turkmenistan, inside a reserve of some 271 square kilometres set up in 1986, a limestone plateau preserves the country's strangest attraction: hundreds of dinosaur footprints marching across a tilted Jurassic lagoon floor - trackways so long and clear they read like a stampede caught mid-stride. Around them spreads a wilderness of deep canyons, juniper slopes, and more than three hundred caves, among Central Asia's most extensive systems, home to blind cave fish and, on the crags, the rare Heptner's markhor. Access runs through permits and local guides, which keeps Koytendag essentially private for those who make the long journey.

What you'll find

• The dinosaur plateau - trackways of hundreds of Jurassic footprints.
• The canyons - Umbar and Kyrk Gyz gorges cutting the range.
• The caves - vast karst systems with their blind fish.
• Markhor country - spiral-horned goats on the high crags.

When to go

Spring and autumn for bearable temperatures and clear plateau light; summer bakes and winter closes the heights. The trackways photograph best in low morning or evening sun that shadows the prints.

Before you go

This is the hardest-won site in a hard-to-travel country: long drives from Turkmenabat, mandatory permits and guides, and accommodation of the homestay-or-camp variety - it rewards committed travellers and defeats casual plans. Paths are rough and the plateau exposed. The payoff is having a Jurassic wonder effectively to yourself.

Nearby

Kerki and the Amu Darya crossing, and the long road back to Turkmenabat.

Key facts