Kolsay Lakes National Park, National park in Almaty Region, Kazakhstan
The national park encompasses three mountain lakes within the Tian Shan range, surrounded by spruce forests and snow-covered peaks at elevations between 1800 and 2850 meters.
The Kolsay Lakes National Park, established in 2007, protects 161,045 hectares of natural territory within the northern slopes of the Tian Shan mountains.
Local Kazakh families near the park continue their traditional nomadic practices, setting up yurt camps during summer months and offering visitors horseback riding experiences.
Visitors can access the park through organized tours from Almaty city, with accommodation options ranging from basic camping sites to comfortable eco-lodges near Lake Kolsay.
The park houses over 700 plant species and 200 vertebrate species, including snow leopards, Tian Shan bears, and golden eagles in their natural mountain habitat.
Location: Almaty Region
Inception: February 7, 2007
Operator: Комитет лесного хозяйства и животного мира Министерства экологии, геологии и природных ресурсов Республики Казахстан
Address: Kolsai Lake, Kazakhstan
Website: http://kolsay.kz
GPS coordinates: 42.93333,78.40000
Latest update: May 11, 2025 05:49
Kazakhstan stretches across an impressive variety of landscapes, from high mountains to vast steppes, from hidden mountain lakes to wide desert plains. The country protects numerous natural areas that show these differences and allow visitors to experience places that remain little changed. In the national parks and reserves, you can walk through forests, stand by quiet lakes, or explore canyons shaped over thousands of years. Among the most visited are Charyn Canyon with its red rock walls, Burabay National Park with its pine forests and granite boulders, and Big Almaty Lake, which sits in a narrow valley at over 2500 meters elevation. Kaindy Lake is known for its submerged trees, their trunks still rising from the water. In the southern regions you find Aksu-Zhabagly, the country's oldest nature reserve, while in the east Mount Belukha, the highest peak of the Altai range, stands on the border with Russia. Each of these places offers its own picture of what nature looks like in this part of Central Asia.
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