The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve and Big Solar Furnace
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
470 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 08
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.
The stops in between: The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve, Big Solar Furnace and back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,650 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 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 140 km into the recorded legs. Next is Big Solar Furnace.
3. 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 at The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
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 140 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 97 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 97 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve to The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve
back through The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve → The Chatkal State Biosphere Nature Reserve is 140 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.