Go hiking around Karakol

Karakol is an excellent base from which to embark on some hiking in the nearby areas.

The Jety-Oguz Canyon is located a short distance outside Karakol, and offers some of the best opportunities for day hikes in the area. The most popular option is a gentle route along the canyon to the picturesque Valley of Flowers, and beyond. Along this route you will enjoy lovely views of surrounding mountains and alpine forest. This is a fairly easy walk without much uphill. There is also the option to extend this by hiking up to some waterfalls. This extension involves an hour of fairly steep uphill walking and is more challenging.

If travelling on from Karakol to stay in one of the settlements along the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, then there are some good opportunities to stop for some walking en route. Barskoon Gorge is home to an impressive chain of waterfalls, consisting of three large falls and several smaller ones. The first large waterfall is fairly easily accessible, with a viewing platform only a short walk from the road, but then the path to the other two gets progressively steeper, so you can decide how far you want to walk. Skazka Gorge is also known as ‘Fairy Tale Canyon’, with its other-worldly red rock landscape. From here you can see a beautiful panoramic view of Lake Issyk-Kul.