Charyn Canyon National Park in Qarazhal

One of the most memorable places in Kazakhstan! Grand canyon in miniature! Definitely I will go back!Maybe even overnight!

If you are in Almaty that’s must see.

This is the epic face of the nature. For 2,5 km you walk between the amazing rock formations, in a walley that is way different than anyone can imagine. There are interesting shapes and in every 500 mt there is a pit stop with a shadow tent and free fresh drinking water. At the end you reach to a river where the trees and picnic tables all around. There is also a public toilet which was not clean at all. Maybe that is the only bad thing here. I recommend you to walk down the walley till you reach the river and bring some food, fruits and a blanket to have a picnic near the river under the shadow of beautiful trees. You will definately like it here and it worth going there. Do not worry about the way back because there are mini buses that will take you back where you have started to your journey for a reasonable amount of money.This is a place that must be seen!

Such an amazing places, even more beautiful than lots of places in US to which we can compare it. Definitely a must see when visiting Kazakhstan. Very easily reachable by road from Almaty and cheap to enter. Just lovely!

Stand up early,take your rented car and travel to the canyon from Almaty. With 500 Tenge per person you enter simply into another planet. Walk down until the river and dont forget the viewpoints on the high ground straight walking from the main parking lot. So you think you see everything??? Of course not, leave early from Almaty and try to catch into a long day trip also Kolsai lake... Have Yandex or another(Google mapsready and be prepared to leave night from Kolsai lake back to Almaty. Dont be surprised if you arrive one at night into Almaty and its full of traffic :). This the daily life in Kazakhstan,vivid and tasteful.

Charyon Canyon Vow these Country have lot to show for Tourism & do for Outdoor Activities. 3hrs frm Almaty city but worth spending time.

This is just incredible, although didnt have an opportunity to go to the canyon due to rains.

Take a group tour it’s one of the good places you can visit and it’s worth visiting

Nice hike, but very hot in the summer. Its all downhill going, and uphill coming back. A large river meets you at the end of the trail, which is a campground with picnic tables and a restroom/toilet.

It is the best place u can visit..Have a lot of fun and enjoyment there..and beautiful memories ever flashing in our mind

Fabulous! The 2nd largest canyon in the world. Worth your time and money.

Beautiful canyons. Take some drinks and food with you, you dont have chance to buy any thing there. Think over sun and moskito-protection.At the end of the "deep route" is a very nice place close to the river, you can make a picnic.

Joined a local tour to be able to reach the Canyon. Though the guide wasn’t speaking English much, I was in awe by locals who keeps on translating of what the guide is saying about. Didn’t know Kazakhstan has a beautiful canyon until I witness by my both eyes. Prepare for a long walk but u assure you it is worth it a thousandth times.

A must visit for family picnics and a nice walk through an impressive landscape.

Really nice canyon. See my pictures!Beatiful nature.About 3 to 4 hours from Almaty city center, depends on traffic. Very easy to get there by car, roads are relatively new and okay to drive.Best time is spring and fall, cause it is not that cold or hot.

Good place to spend few hours, there is shared taxi( on the right you will see stairs which will drive you inside a canyon

We liked visiting the Charyn Canyon and hiking down from the parking lot to the river. We took a taxi-bus back from the riverbed to the parking lot. so that was even easier than hiking :)

Nice place to visit, with benches to rest during the walk to the river.

It is worth to see it, small version of Grand Canyon in Arizona. The cost of entrance is around 700 tenge per person plus 100 tenge for parking. Not so far from Almaty, 4 hours to drive. I love Charyn but I recommend to go there in spring or fall time, its very hot in summer.

A very beautiful canyon that must be visited.You should plan to spend at least 4 hours there.- You can go down the stairs, but remember to walk 3 km to the river and back, so you need comfortable shoes.- Entrance to the canyon is about $ 2 per person, if you later go to the grove, save your receipt, you can enter it for free within 24 hours.- If you are lazy and do not want to walk, then inside the canyon there are "taxi drivers", you can negotiate with them.- The water of the Sharyn River is cold, but there you can find some places to swim.- There are no shops downstairs, so you need to take everything with you.- Inside of canyon and the territory of Sharyn river, there are benches where you can stay.- Until 11 oclock there are almost no people after 11 more come, excursions and walking are no longer so comfortable.You can arrive by sightseeing bus, but it can also be a good idea if you arrive by your own car.Sharyn Canyon is roughly 90 kilometres (56 miin length. Of course, it is smaller than Grand Canyon, but anyway Sharyn is very impressive and colourful.

The second biggest canyon in the world, amazing place and unforgettably experience. I drive my car under the canyon and stay in the yurt camp overnight. I wish I had more time to spent there. One of the most vivid memories of my Kazakh trip of 2018.

With different Rock Formation Charyn Canyon is a must visit place for the tourists coming to Almaty. We went there in October last week of 2019 around 08:15 am. We should be cautious to walk as it was skidding in few points. There was very little crowd when we visited the place. It helped us to enjoy the serene atmosphere.

Excellent place for a city getaway (2,5-3 hrs drive). Picturesque view on canyons from the top and a good 7-8km walk to the river and back. Best time for a visit is March to April and mid September to mid October.Tip: visit in August for a night tour to witness the starfall.

Loved this place absolutely amazing.. All photos are captured by me.. Stayed here for a nyt beside the lake, it was cool, but we had a camp fire.. Better to visit in August and September months..

It was a great accomplishment for me & my 25 travelling mates. Walked leisurely admiring the beautiful of different rock formations in this canyon. Most exciting part was upon reaching the river, water was so clear that made me wanted to jump into it. Buggy ride out of the canyon was expensive 12USD each.

Beautiful canyons. Try to visit the lesser known view point spots on the east side and not just the main tourist view point.

A beautiful place I would absolutely recommend to visit. Took a bus tour there, quite a drive from Almati but def worth it. Theres a nice walk down to the river with some resting places but they can be full, so just found a bench next to a river. Recommend to pack a lunch with you. On the way back theres a nice hike (not that hardor a possibility to hire a "safari taxi".

Great natural sight! Takes you about 15 minutes off the main road. I would estimate you need one and a half hours to walk the track on the top of the canyon (as we didand get a nice view, but walking down you can spend several days from what we heard. Charged 850 tenge for one person, but 2350 for three people in a single car. Absolutely beautiful and worth it!

Definately worth the visit. It took us less than an hour each side (though back a bit more, as you go slightly up). Happy that we came back today, as yesterday we had a thunderstorm which limited our visit to the upper part and for hardly one hour. It seems you can dip into the river at the eco tourist center, one hour walking from the start. Be sure to take enough water with you, as it can be very hot and there is hardly any shadow in the Canyon itself.

So Charyn Canyon was the place I was most excited about seeing when coming to Kazakhstan. It is a truly spectacular place and the rock formations look incredible. After seeing lots of photos on the internet I was actually expecting more, which is why I gave it a 4* however I think this is because many photos are taken with drones from above, and so you can see more.Be prepared for a 3/4 hour drive to reach the area. When I got there I followed the path down into the canyon, and it takes you about 2km on a windy path to reach the river.I came here as part of a bigger trip so didnt stay the night, but if you decide to camp by the river, they have small lodges and yurts, just be prepared for the mosquitos!!

Amazing canyon in the middle of nowhere. Way better than what we expected !

Beautiful and calm but not too long. Its three km walking flat so in less than an hour youre done with it. There is beautiful view from above too. Very easy, not a real hike involved.Its very hot in hot weather and no shade around. Im the end you can take a 4wd taxi back or just walk back which is pretty easy as well.

Beautiful place for a trip.Ive been hiking through the whole canyon, aside to the river. It was really a tough one - really suggested, but only for physically prepared and durable people.If you dont want to endeavor too much, you can visit the Charyn Canyon view point, near the eco-park.

The canyon looks amazing and is a beautiful walk to make, not even very long.It was very quiet, there were almost no tourists.The only problem comes if you decide to sleep there: the bungalows or the yurts are extremely expensive and everything is in bad condition. So my tip is to bring a tent or to find somewhere else to sleep

Fantastic place to visit. There is a river at the bottom of the canyon aswell as some accommodation you can book. We visited by bike and were allowed the camp where we wanted for the night. Like a mini Grand Canyon.

Good road to go, worth it a day visit.Once you arrive there id a 3km walk in the canyon, and you can come back eith a tsxi for 500tng or 700tng for and open roof one

Good reachable, great view but "touristic" for Kazakh relations.

Charyn National Park (officially, Charyn Canyon National Nature Parkis a national park in Kazakhstan, stretching along the Charyn River, including Charyn Canyon. The Canyon, with its thinly stratified red sedimentary rock, it is said to resemble the Grand Canyon in the US; it is however smaller - 50 km from end to end. About 125,050 hectares (309,005 acres; 1,250 km2; 483 sq miin size, the park occupies portions of Enbekshikazakh District, Raiymbek District, and Uygur District of Almaty Region. It is about 200 km east of the city of Almaty. The park was established in 2004 to protect the geological attractions of the canyon, the ecological fragility of the river and desert system (including relic Sogdian Ash groves), and surrounding archaeological sites; portions are also set aside for recreation.

Fantastic canyon walk. Beautiful geological features and a majestic river at the end, although an unfortunate tourist camp has appeared.

Very beautiful place that is called "little brother of Grand Canyon". This is original route of River, that over millenia changed its course and left this casm in the ground.

Beautiful landscape and views. Make sure you try the different route

A beautiful canyon well worth the trouble of getting in. Not the easiest to access and can even be expensive of going on private tour from Astana. Also offers place to sleep and camp in the canyon.

Beautiful place. Certainly worth visiting. We spent night down at the Eco Village. All good. The staff should work on possible trekking routes around, rafting... They told us that there is nothing to be done after getting to the village. They are loosing business opportunity.

Great place. Must visit in Kazakhstan. Beautiful canyon, not crowded, very picturesque, two hours drive from Almaty. This is good for a short 3 hours visit, or several days stay. There are camps where you can stay overnight, beautiful river, very fresh air and friendly people.

Charyn canyon is a unique mountain sigtseeing opportunity of Almaty region, I spent there couple of hours but will miss this place for a longer while. Built by nature as Charyn was a bottom of an ancient lake.Here, the nature and time cooperated in creating stuning sculptures made of rock and earth.The area of Charyn canyon is mostly clean, almost no rubish thanks to the staff of national park and tourists guides making sure no littering occurs.Definetely recommend to visit this miraculous place!!

It was a sunny day and we enjoyed the time spending over the canyon with family. The road to access the park was quite rude, but after seeing the wonderful rocks, we forgot the bad road.

Very nice place to spend weekends. Recommend you to go there in autumn or in spring.

2-3hrs from Almaty, this place is phenomenal. We went in winter and was worth every second we spent getting there and back. Spectacular scenery and unbelievable views....

Amazing Place, its a must to go there if you are in Almaty and you got one spare day.

a worthy place of your attention. Here you can either philosophize or inspire or think about the universe