Charyn Canyon sits about 200km east of Almaty and is the reason people make the drive. The comparison that gets made is to the Grand Canyon — an overstatement in terms of scale but not entirely wrong in terms of impact. The red, orange, and ochre rock formations are genuinely dramatic, and the canyon floor has a quality of stillness that the surrounding steppe doesn't prepare you for. The infrastructure throughout the national park was built during Covid, which gives it an oddly pristine feel for somewhere this remote.
Parks & Gardens
Yellow Canyon
The first stop, and a strong opening. Beautiful rock formations in the canyon walls, the colour shifting depending on where the light hits. Someone had set up a 360-degree mobile photo point for selfies at the viewpoint, which felt about right for 2024.
Black Canyon
A stone shelf overlook into the darker section of the canyon system. The contrast with the Yellow Canyon is marked: cooler in tone, more austere. Worth the separate stop rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Charyn National Park
The main canyon walk starts from the national park car park and runs down to the canyon floor and along the valley. The infrastructure is well done — paths, facilities, signage — all of it built during Covid and showing it in the best possible way: solid, considered, not yet worn in.