Flagship routeSmall group

Grand Almaty Off-Road Expedition

Three days on the flagship route — Charyn, Kaindy, Kolsai and Bartogai — in purpose-built 4x4s.

5.0(64 reviews)

Duration

3 days / 2 nights

Difficulty

Hard

Season

May – October

Group up to

6 people

City pickup

Included

from

$429

Trip highlights

Day 1
Almaty → Charyn
Leave the city, cross steppe passes and end the day in the Valley of Castles as the walls turn to fire.
Day 2
Charyn → Kaindy → Kolsai
Off-road to Kaindy’s sunken forest, then climb to the Kolsai lakes and overnight in a guest house.
Day 3
Kolsai → Bartogai → Almaty
Dawn at the lake, on to turquoise Bartogai and the Black Canyon, back in Almaty by evening.

Kolsai and Kaindy sit in a border zone — bring your ORIGINAL passport; copies are not accepted.

Nissan Patrol Y61

Body-on-frame 4x4, 3.0 TD diesel, lockers

5 seats · 230 mm clearance

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 150

Full-time 4WD, low range, Land Cruiser reliability

5 seats · 215 mm clearance

The route

Scroll to fly over each leg of the journey.

1 / 6
Start — Almaty
We leave the city at dawn. Three days of backcountry across the Almaty region ahead.
2 / 6
Charyn — Valley of Castles
The canyon’s red sandstone towers at sunset — the first major stop on the route.
3 / 6
Kaindy Lake
Off-road to the sunken spruce forest — dry trunks rising from turquoise water.
4 / 6
Kolsai Lakes
Climb to the alpine lakes in the Tien Shan spruce slopes and overnight in the mountains.
5 / 6
Bartogai Reservoir
A turquoise basin in the steppe and Charyn’s Black Canyon on the way back.
6 / 6
Finish — Almaty
Back in the city on the evening of day three — the loop of the region’s best places is closed.