Karakol valley

Karakol valley

The Karakol gorge (Karakol gorge) is a high mountain gorge located in the eastern part of the Terskey-Ala-Too ridge on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, near the city of Karakol. The gorge is one of the most visited tourist places in the Issyk-Kul region due to its unique natural characteristics, great length and relative accessibility. The territory of the Karakol Gorge is a protected area and has a large length of 40 kilometers.

The Karakol Gorge is a kind of center for many mountain tourist and climbing routes on the Terskey-Ala-Too ridge. In the summer, an alpine camp operates here, from where climbs are made to the peaks of Przhvalsky, Telman, Gastello, Zhukov, Dimitrov, as well as to the two highest peaks of Terskey-Ala-Too - the peaks of Karakol and Dzhigit. The road to the beautiful mountain lake Ala-Kul passes through the Karakol gorge. Also through it you can get to the Altyn-Arashan and Jety-Oguz gorges.

The gorge is rich in beautiful views, complex terrain and a lot of vegetation. Here you can see thickets of wild barberry and wild rose, relic forests of Tien Shan spruce and high-mountain alpine meadows with a scattering of wild flowers.

In the lower part of the gorge there is a ski base "Karakol", known among skiing enthusiasts far beyond the borders of Kyrgyzstan.