Kazakhstan: Big Almaty Lake
Казахстан: Большое Алматинское Озеро

Big Almaty Lake is one of the best-known options from Almaty for dayhikes in Kazakhstan, popular among local and foreign tourists alike. It’s a large and stunningly beautiful lake in impressive surroundings, but ease of access from the city also can bring considerable crowds.

[Note that as of Jan 2021, the road to Big Almaty Lake is scheduled to be closed for three years during renovations of mudflow and landslide protection infrastructure in the area. See the ‘Getting to Big Almaty Lake’ section at the end of the article for more details.]

Total Km: 5km
Total Days: 1
Elevation Gain/Loss: 390m+ / 133m-
Start Point: Alpine Rose Hotel
End Point: Big Almaty Lake
GPS Files

Find the trailhead for Big Almaty Lake just past the turn for the Alpine Rose hotel, around 7km before the road dead ends at the lake itself. It is, of course, possible to drive right to the lake shore – but that doesn’t result in much of a hiking experience!

From the Alpine Rose turnoff, follow a gently climbing dirt track to the southeast for 1.7km as it slowly gains about 140m of elevation. Where the dirt road turns sharply east just beyond the last rise of a small ridge, the trail turns to the southwest past a wooden sign points towards Big Almaty Lake and begins to climb the rise through a large stand of trees. It’s considerably steeper than the first stretch, picking up about 217m of elevation over just 1.4km of lateral distance, but the walking is pleasant and soon enough you come to the top of it with views down to the lake.

From the top here, you’ll need to descend a bit to the road along the lake shore, only 400m meters or so away, and then pick up the lake road back to the north and the northern edge of the lake. At times this area is declared off-limits to hikers, so be prepared for the eventuality of walking back to the Alpen Rose if necessary, but in all likelihood you’ll be able to follow this back to the road and catch a ride back to the city.

Alternate Options for Big Almaty Lake

Of all the access routes to Big Almaty Lake, this is the most interesting as it follows the road for the shortest stretch. However, if border guards have blocked this route from tourists, it’s possible to follow the main road directly down to the lake shore – though it does beg the question of why you wouldn’t just hire a taxi.

An alternate half-day hike in the region is the Big Almaty Peak. With the recent increased presence of border guards in the area this may now required a border permit from OVIR, so check with your hostel or a tour company in Almaty before setting out.

Good To Know

Though Big Almaty Lake itself is free, to enter the region you may need to buy a ticket to the Trans Ili-Alatau National Park for about 400 tenge per person, and a further 500 tenge per vehicle. However, it’s all enforced very haphazardly, so you may not ever need to pay at all.

Due to proximity to the Kyrgyz border, local border guards will sometimes check visitors’ documents – bring your passport along just in case.

Camping near the lake is no longer permitted, so you’ll almost certainly visit as a daytrip from Almaty. Plan on packing all your food and water for the day, and some basic safety equipment like raingear and flashlights, but no specialized equipment is necessary to visit the lake.

Getting to Big Almaty Lake

According to Kazakh news sources, the road to Big Almaty Lake will be closed for up to three years during renovation works of safety and transport infrastructure in the area.

Before the closure, it was typically possible to taxi for around 3000 tenge from Almaty to the trailhead in around 45 minutes, and either hitch a ride back down or arrange for your driver to wait several hours to take you back on the return trip. However, please verify costs and accessibility information once the road reopens, to make sure this information has not changed.

If you’d prefer to keep down costs and avoid the taxi, bus 28 runs from near Presidents’ Park in Almaty to Kokshoky village and the GES-2 bus stop, from where you can either walk up on the (fairly boring) road an extra 2-3 hours or try to negotiate a ride the last distance to the trailhead or lake. If you do take this option, look for the dodgy staircase that runs alongside the large water pipes that come down the hill – it can save considerable time compared to the winding road route.