Road
Approximate — may differ on site
~14 h
Road openFrom Tashkent → via Almaty, with border
Asphalt ≈ 1023 kmGravel 10 km
- AlmatyEast via the Khorgos highway
- Shelek → Kokpek≈ 200 km paved
- Valley of Castles turn-offGravel10 km · passable for regular cars
- Valley of CastlesParking by the visitor center
On foot
Approximate — depends on trail conditions and season
Easy
Difficulty
5 km
Round trip
1.5–3 h
From the visitor center parking
Easy: no special training or gear needed.
When to go
Until the end of October
In November — possible, best again from April.
- NowOctoberBest
- NextNovember – MarchPossible
- April – MayBest
- June – AugustPossible
- SeptemberBest
Next 7 days · at the place itself
Good to know
Entry fee
865 tenge per person + 2,595 tenge per car (2026)
Documents
Your passport may be checked at the entry post
Mobile signal
Beeline, Kcell (3G) at the top; almost none on the canyon floor
Heat
~40°C in summer, no shade — bring at least 2 l of water per person
About
A canyon carved by the Charyn River. Its best-known part is the “Valley of Castles”: a walking trail between sheer red cliffs down to the river.
