Big Solar Furnace and Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
1415 km
Riding-time estimate
24 h 24
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.
From Parkent it runs 1415 km to Parkent; allow about 24 h 24 of riding. On the way it passes The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve, Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part, Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B and back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,700 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Big Solar Furnace is where the day begins. Next is The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
2. 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
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve comes up about 101 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
3. 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
about 247 km into the recorded legs you reach The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. Next is Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B.
5. Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B
In the south of Kazakhstan, where the western spurs of the Tien Shan rise from the steppe, the Sairam-Ugam National Park protects a landscape of high mountains, deep valleys, juniper forests and alpine meadows. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Western Tien Shan, shared between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, recognised for its exceptional biodiversity, including wild relatives of fruit trees such as apples, pears and walnuts, which are believed to be the ancestors of many cultivated varieties.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part comes up about 985 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
7. back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 1168 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. Next is back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve.
8. back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 1415 km.
Leg by leg
Big Solar Furnace to The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
Big Solar Furnace → The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 101 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 146 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part
The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part is 183 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part to Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B
Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part → Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B is 277 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B to back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part
Sairam-Ugam State National Nature Park - B → back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part is 277 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part to back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
back through Besh-Aral State Nature Reserve - main part → back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 183 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 146 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to Big Solar Furnace
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → Big Solar Furnace is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.