Travel to Ile-Alatau National Park

Ile-Alatau National Park occupies 202,292 hectares on the northern slopes of the Trans-Ili Alatau, the northernmost ridge of the Tian Shan mountain system, immediately south of Almaty. Established February 22, 1996, the park builds on earlier conservation history stretching back to the Almaty State Reserve of 1931. Its terrain spans altitudes from 600 meters in the foothill steppe to over 4,979 meters at its highest peak, encompassing steppe grasslands, juniper woodland, dense Schrenk’s spruce forest, alpine meadow, glaciers, and permanent snowfields. The park stretches 120 kilometers from the Chemolgan River in the west to the Turgen River in the east, and 30 to 35 kilometers north to south.

Over 300 glaciers cover more than 300 square kilometers of the park’s highest terrain, feeding rivers including the Turgen, Issyk, Talgar, Malaya and Bolshaya Almatinka, and Kaskelen. Scientists have documented more than 1,200 plant species within the park, including 36 Red Book species—among them two species of tulips, an iris, and a peony. The park’s vertebrate fauna comprises 245 species, and its invertebrate fauna exceeds 2,000 species across 8 classes.