Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p and Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
1092 km
Riding-time estimate
18 h 48
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
On the way it passes Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas, Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve and back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 3,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Kazakhstan into Kyrgyzstan - carry ID and check the toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p
Kazakhstan's oldest nature reserve sits where the western end of the Tien Shan meets the steppe, in the Talas Alatau range, and it was set aside as early as 1926. Aksu-Jabagly is a country of steep limestone gorges, high meadows and snowy ridges that climb above three thousand metres, and it forms part of the UNESCO listing for the Western Tien-Shan. The Aksu canyon cuts through the heart of it, with walls hung with juniper, and on some rock faces you can find petroglyphs left by herders and hunters thousands of years ago.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas comes up about 303 km into the recorded legs. Next is Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve.
3. Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve
In the far west of Kyrgyzstan, where the Chatkal range runs along the edge of the Fergana valley and the border with Uzbekistan, a steep, forested set of mountains shelters the Padysha-Ata reserve. It is a strictly protected nature area, one of several state reserves in the country, and its purpose is the plain business of keeping a piece of the western Tian Shan as it was. The slopes carry forest and mountain meadow, rivers rush down from snowfields, and the peaks above are high enough to carry glaciers.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p to Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas
Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p → Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas is 303 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas to Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas → Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve is 243 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve to back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas
Padysha-Ata State Nature Reserve → back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas is 243 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas to Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p
back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - Shandalas → Aksu-Jabagly State Nature Reserve - main p is 303 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.