charyncanyon.net is a visitor guide to Charyn Canyon and the Valley of Castles in Almaty Region, Kazakhstan. It is written for people planning a visit: how to get there from Almaty, what the park charges, what the trails involve, when to go and where to stay.
Who manages the canyon
Charyn Canyon lies inside Charyn State National Nature Park (Шарын мемлекеттік ұлттық табиғи паркі), a state institution under the Committee of Forestry and Wildlife of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. The park sets the visiting rules, charges the entry fee and runs the routes. This site is not run by the park or by any state body, and does not speak for them. The park’s own website is charyn-park.kz.
Where the facts come from
- The park, its routes, its rules and its fees come from the park’s own pages and route documents, in Kazakh, Russian and English, and from the national tariff order on Kazakhstan’s legal database, and were checked in November 2026.
- Kolsai and Kaindy lakes come from the Kolsai Kolderi national park’s own pages and route documents.
- Road numbers come from Kazakhstan’s register of public roads; bus information from the timetable of Almaty’s Sayran bus station.
- Road and walking distances are routed along the mapped road and path network between the named points; straight-line distances are measured between the same points.
- Temperatures are averages of a climate reanalysis (Copernicus ERA5) for the area around the canyon.
- Maps are drawn for this site from open map data, credited on each map.
Corrections
If a fee, a road or a rule has changed, please tell us at info@charyncanyon.net and we will check it and correct the page.
Bookings
This guide does not sell tours, tickets, transfers or rooms. Park fees are paid to the park, and trips and rooms are booked directly with the people who provide them.