Photo: Ondřej Žváček, CC BY 2.5 
Photo: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0
Ala-Kul Trek
Ала-Куль
A classic three-day trek above Karakol in eastern Kyrgyzstan, climbing the Karakol valley to the glacial lake of Ala-Kul at 3,500 m and over a 3,900 m pass to the hot springs of Altyn-Arashan.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Karakol National Park entrance, Karakol Gorge
- Ends in
- Altyn-Arashan
- Length
- 34 km
- On foot
- 3 days
- Countries
Kyrgyzstan- Best months
- June–September
About the trail
Ala-Kul is a glacial lake high in the Terskey Ala-Too range south of Karakol, near the eastern end of Lake Issyk-Kul. The trek begins at the entrance to Karakol National Park and climbs the Karakol valley through tall conifer forest before turning up to the lake at about 3,500 m.
From the lake the route crosses a pass of about 3,900 m, the highest point of the walk, and descends into the Altyn-Arashan valley, where walkers can soak in natural hot springs.
CBT Kyrgyzstan, the community-based tourism network, offers the walk as three days on foot within its tours and gives mid-June to mid-September as the best season, with a four-wheel-drive vehicle bringing walkers back from Altyn-Arashan to Karakol.
Length measured on the OpenStreetMap line; no official figure checked yet.