Charyn Canyon by bicycle

[TheCrazyTravel]

Hello there,

We are planning to cycle from Karakol to China through Kazakhstan and we were thinking to pas by Charyn Canyon.

Is it possible to cycle through there with a fully loaded bicycle?

How much is the fee per person (with bicycle)?

Thanks,
Pablo

[mazeno]

if you mean the valley of castles (about 3km long, heading to the riverbed) - yes, but there is the dead end in the riverbed (start: https://goo.gl/maps/8AcKz end: https://goo.gl/maps/mGE9d). at the start there is a very steep downhill into the valley for about 150m. but you can also watch the valley from its banks - the left bank (orographic) is easily accesible, there is another path up there (even for cars) but it has also the dead end. or you can leave the bike at the rangers shed (and the cash register https://goo.gl/maps/PGGqz) and walk (it can take some hours to see all the valley of castles including walking down but it is worth, i was there twice - every time spent more than 3 hours driving and walking).

if you mean all the riverbed - no. there is a path starting from the rangers shed but it is in the steppe and leads away to the north, you cannot see the valley from it.

the fee - driving into the valley of castles for 4 persons and the car was about 28 usd (2014).

look at the movies below:
- sharyn canoyn starts at 25:00. at 25:25 and 26:08 you can see the steep dowhhill entry to the valley - look at the rear right wheel, it can help you to imagine how steep.
- sharyn canoyn starts at 32:45.

the valley of castles seen from the left bank looking up:



and looking down - the path leads to the small green area on the left down in the valley - there is the dead end (there is some tourist infrastructure like fake yurts and bungalows):



riverbed at the dead end:







another view of the riverbed (away from valley of castles):

[steven]

Great info Mazeno! What do you think about the other entry to Charyn, where the relic ash trees are? Doable with bicycle? I haven't been to that side yet.

[TheCrazyTravel]

Thank you very much for so much information mazeno. But... 28 USD?? That's definitely out of my budget. I thought it would be 1 or 2 USD per person -which already bothers me for visiting nature-, but more than that... We will have to skip it.

[mazeno]

28usd for 4 persons and the car.
for one person i think it is much more cheaper.

there is only western side possible to entry by bike to the valley, as marked above on the g-map. on foot maybe you can find another, but it could be a challenge (the rock is brittle). the relic trees are on the dead end at the riverbank.

[TheCrazyTravel]

Ok, thanks, if someone has any idea how much it is it would be of help to see if it is worth to cycle there or not. Thanks!

[steven]

I think cyclists go free to Charyn Canyon, could be wrong though. Should not be more than 200 tenge though. Please let us know how much it was if you went!

[TheCrazyTravel]

We might check it out then!

[kappazeta]

We plan to go to Charyn canyon with our bikes in a few days (we are now in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan). Any updated information from cyclists who have been there recently? We'd like to spend a couple of days in the area. Any tips much appreciated! Thanks!

[Lovetheworld]

All the info should still be relevant.

On the other side of the river, there are other canyons as well. It is quite a ride into a dusty dry area (washboarding roads etc) but it will allow you to camp out in a canyon all by yourself. We found it awesome, but we were with a car, so I'm not sure how much effort it is on the bicycle and if you find it worth it.

From this point you can go into what I believe is called the yellow canyon, although I'm not sure anymore. https://www.google.com/maps/place/43%C2 ... 79.1277877

If memory serves me right, we went North from here:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/43%C2%B013'08.0%22N+79%C2%B006'50.8%22E/@43.218891,79.113017,461m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m13!1m6!3m5!1s0x3880b686240d87b5:0x85b1a465e609efa0!2sCharyn+Canyon+National+Park!8m2!3d43.3432085!4d79.0706946!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d43.2188893!4d79.1141148

It is all unpaved, and bumpy at times. It is also easy to get lost, so some form of GPS navigation would be a good idea. There were some tracks in that area in OSMand