Altyn-Emel National Park
On this website you will find the most interesting, detailed and up-to-date information about the Altyn-Emel State National Natural Park, as well as new and useful information for tourists and travel companies.
Welcome to Kazakhstan and enjoy your journey through the Altyn-Emel National Park!
Altyn-Emel ranks 7th in the Top 10 most incredible national parks outside the USA, according to T+L's A-List advisors.
The Altyn-Emel National Park is located in the southeast of Kazakhstan, 250 km north of Almaty.
The park office is located in the village of Basshi (former Kalinino). This is the main entrance to the park.
✉️ Address of the national park office: 2 Mametova Str., Basshi Village.
📍 Find the office on Google Maps >>>
📍 Find the office on Yandex >>>
📍 Find the office on 2GIS >>>
- Altyn-Emel National Park has the international status of a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
- Altyn-Emel is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the nomination "Cold Winter Deserts of Turan".
- It is nominated for the status of a UNESCO Geopark.
The Altyn-Emel National Park is mostly famous for its unique natural sites attracting thousands of tourists from all over the world. These are the Singing Dune and the multicolored Aktau Mountains.
The most ancient historical artifacts in Altyn-Emel dating back to 1 thousand BC are the Besshatyr Mounds and the Tanbaly Tas petroglyphs.
The Singing Dune is a large sand dune that produces a loud sound when the dry sand moves. This unique natural phenomenon is only found in a few places in the world.
The Aktau Geopark is a natural museum revealing the Earth's geological history through multicolored layers of sedimentary rock. The Aktau Mountains are the bottom of an ancient body of water - presumably, the Tethys Ocean.
Katutau are the largest mountains in Altyn-Emel, where solidified lava of a volcano of the Permian, which ended with a mass extinction about 251.9 million years ago, has been preserved.
The Kosbastau Oasis in the Altyn-Emel National Park is fed by warm underground springs with radon water, which is why giant, long-lived trees grow here.
The Besshatyr Mounds are a royal necropolis dating back to the era of the nomadic Saka tribes, who inhabited the entire territory of present-day Kazakhstan and far beyond in the 1st millennium BC.
Tanbaly Tas in Altyn-Emel is a cluster of petroglyphs from the Bronze, Iron, and Medieval Ages. Rock art was part of rituals and was passed down from generation to generation by artisans.
Altyn-Emel has diverse ecosystems - mountains, meadows, steppes, deserts, floodplains, and rivers. More than 850 plant species grow here, including rare and endemic ones.
Altyn-Emel is home to 40 per cent of Kazakhstan's total fauna, including rare species listed in the Red Book of Kazakhstan and the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Altyn-Emel Park is open daily, all year round. Please check in advance the weather forecast and the roads conditions in the park.
The roads in the park are unpaved and cause vibration; a reliable 4x4 or a crossover with strong tires is a must.
You can get to Altyn-Emel only by your own or rented car; there is no public transport to Basshi.
You can buy a pass (permit) to Altyn-Emel at the office of the national park in the village of Basshi.
Available tourist routes: Singing Dune (#1), Besshatyr Mounds (#2), Aktau and Katutau Mountains (#3).
Travel information for self-drive trips to the Besshatyr Mounds, Singing Dune, and the Aktau Mountains.
Off-road bus rental in the village of Basshi for group tours to the Singing Dune and the Aktau Mountains.
The most reliable and unique information about the Altyn-Emel National Park from our English speaking guide.
Individual 4x4 tours from Almaty to the Singing Dune, Aktau and Katutau Mountains.
Individual 4x4 tours from Basshi to the Singing Dune, Aktau and Katutau Mountains.
