Handpicked experience · Almaty
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The towers are just soft rock eroding under hard, and somewhere along the same river grows a forest that outlived the ice ages.
A canyon whose shapes explain themselves once you know the geology
A relict forest that the ice ages missed
Hours of open steppe that are part of the trip rather than a transfer
Marked trails with viewpoints at several levels
A shared-coach format that makes a distant site a day trip
A full day from Almaty out across the steppe to Charyn Canyon, with guided walking through the Valley of Castles, viewpoint stops and free time, travelling by shared coach.
The formations that give the valley its name are red sandstone, laid down as sediment and then cut into by the Charyn river over millions of years. Wind and frost did the detailing.
What you are walking through is the difference between hard and soft layers. Where a resistant band sits on top of weaker rock, the softer material erodes away beneath it and leaves towers, spires and the flat-topped shapes that look deliberately built. Nothing about it is deliberate; it is simply that the rock is not uniform and water finds every weakness.
Further along the same river system, out of sight of the main viewpoints, grows a stand of Sogdian ash — a tree that has been around since long before the last glaciations and survives in only a few places on earth.
Most of Central Asia's ancient forest was wiped out by the advancing and retreating ice. This valley, sheltered and watered by the river, was one of the refuges where the old flora simply kept going. The grove is protected and is one of the reasons the wider area carries national park status; it is not a landscaped attraction but a genuine survival, and it makes the canyon considerably more interesting than the rock formations alone would.
The route through the Valley of Castles runs downhill from the rim towards the river, which is easy and pleasant, and then you turn around.
The return is a steady climb of a couple of kilometres, in full sun, on loose gravel, in a place where summer temperatures are punishing and there is no shade to speak of. People consistently underestimate it. Take more water than you think you need, start back with time in hand, and there is no shame at all in stopping halfway down rather than pushing to the river.
This is a long day for a comparatively short visit — six to eight hours of driving for a few hours at the canyon — and the steppe crossing is genuinely part of it rather than dead time.
Facilities are basic and concentrated at the rim, so use them before you descend. Bring water, sun protection, a hat and shoes with grip. Spring and autumn are far kinder than midsummer, and the light early and late is much better than at midday, which is unfortunately when a day trip from Almaty arrives.
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A resistant sandstone layer sits over weaker rock. The soft material erodes out from underneath, leaving towers, spires and flat-topped shapes.
Entirely natural. The rock is simply not uniform, and water and frost exploit every weakness in it.
A tree species that predates the last glaciations and survives in only a few places on earth. A protected grove grows along this river system.
The valley is sheltered and watered by the river, so it acted as a refuge while advancing ice wiped out most of Central Asia's ancient forest.
The way down is easy. The return is a steady two-kilometre climb on loose gravel in full sun, and most people underestimate it.
Not at all. Turning back halfway is a perfectly good visit, and better than running out of water on the climb.
Three to four hours each way across open steppe, with planned photo stops along the route.
Spring and autumn. Midsummer heat in an unshaded canyon is punishing, and the midday light is the flattest of the day.