Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part and Big Solar Furnace
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
970 km
Riding-time estimate
16 h 44
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 The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve, Big Solar Furnace and back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,700 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Kyrgyzstan into Uzbekistan - carry ID and check the toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part
Far up the Chatkal valley in western Kyrgyzstan, where the river runs between the Chatkal and Sandalash ranges of the Western Tien Shan, lies the Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve. It protects mountain steppe, juniper woodland, walnut and apple groves and rocky high country, and it is part of the transnational World Heritage Site of the Western Tien Shan, inscribed in 2016 and shared with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The reserve was created in particular to protect Menzbier's marmot, a small marmot found only in this part of Central Asia.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part is where the day begins. Next is The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
2. The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
East of Tashkent, the Western Tian Shan rises in a series of ridges, and the Chatkal range is one of the most accessible of them, its snowy peaks visible from the capital on a clear day. The Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve protects a part of this landscape, with forests of juniper, walnut, maple and wild fruit trees, and alpine meadows above, home to Tian Shan brown bears, snow leopards, ibex, wild boar and many birds of prey. The Western Tian Shan, shared by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, is on the UNESCO list.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
3. The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
East of Tashkent, the land rises steeply into the western ranges of the Tian Shan, and the Chatkal range forms the border with Kyrgyzstan. The Chatkal State Biosphere Reserve, established in the Soviet era, protects a stretch of these mountains, with juniper forests, walnut and wild fruit trees, alpine meadows and rocky peaks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 371 km into the recorded legs you reach The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. Next is Big Solar Furnace.
4. Big Solar Furnace
In the foothills of the Tian Shan, about an hour north-east of Tashkent, there is a building that looks as if it belongs in a science fiction film: a huge curved mirror, made of thousands of smaller mirrors, facing a field of tracking mirrors that follow the sun and focus its light onto a single point. This is the Big Solar Furnace near Parkent, built in the Soviet era in the 1980s, and still used for research into materials that can withstand extremely high temperatures.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve sits at 645 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
6. back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve comes up about 763 km into the recorded legs. Next is Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part closes the day.
Leg by leg
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part to The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part → The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 207 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 164 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to Big Solar Furnace
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → Big Solar Furnace is 114 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Big Solar Furnace to back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
Big Solar Furnace → back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 114 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 164 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part is 207 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.