Semenovka valley

Semenovka valley

Semyonovskoe Gorge (also Chon-Ak-Suu) is one of the most famous mountain gorges on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. It is located on the Kungei-Ala-Too ridge and has a length of 30 kilometers. In the depths of the gorge there is a small lake, which is called the Sacred, because of its purity and transparency. Also in the upper part of the gorge, it connects with the Grigorievsky gorge.

The gorge got its name in honor of the famous traveler Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, who explored these places in the middle of the 19th century. This place is very popular among tourists: there are not so many easily accessible and at the same time beautiful gorges on the northern coast of Issyk-Kul. Already in the lower part of the gorge begins a dense spruce forest. In addition to spruces, in the gorge you can find thickets of barberry, sea buckthorn, wild rose and currant.

The gorge has a fairly developed tourist infrastructure. Here you can spend the night in a yurt, try Kyrgyz national dishes cooked on a fire, drink kymyz and get to know the nomadic culture of the country better. From the end of July until the end of September, there is a yurt town where you can try to set up a yurt or just enjoy the nomadic life in the middle of untouched nature.

A large number of tourist routes pass through the Semenovsky Gorge. Most of them are intended for one-day trips, but there are also difficult routes leading to the Chon-Kemin Gorge or to the Zailiysky Alatau ridge.