Ala-Köl Lake

LakesIssyk-Kul,Kyrgyzstan

A Kyrgyz lake at 3,532 metres on the country's most-walked trek, shifting from turquoise to grey and faint pink with the light, held behind moraine.

September·Edge of season

Sep

September thins the crowds and clears the skies to brilliant blue, with the first autumn tints — but cold sets in fast, early snowstorms can close the pass, and the safe crossing window shuts by mid-month.

Year-round The colour-shifting glacial lake sits above the treeline year-round, but the pass is walkable only from early July to mid-September, snowbound the rest of the year.

Ala-Köl is a lake at 3,532 metres in the Terskey Alatau mountains of eastern Kyrgyzstan, above the town of Karakol, held behind a wall of moraine with no river out, and it shifts from turquoise to grey to a faint pink with the light, which is why it is the goal of the most-walked trek in the country. The name means many-coloured lake, and the first outsider on record to reach it, the Russian traveller Putimtsoff in 1811, already remarked on the violent winds and the strangely coloured rocks in the water. The trek takes three days from Karakol. The lower trail climbs through spruce and fir forest, crossing icy meltwater streams on logs, before the path breaks above the treeline into a valley of boulders and yurt camps, and the last kilometres to the lake are a steep push over loose rock to a lip of moraine where the whole turquoise basin drops open below, ringed by bare snow-streaked peaks. Most people camp on the shore in a four-season tent, and the night above 3,500 metres is cold in any month. The way on is the Ala-Köl Pass, near 3,900 metres, a lung-burning climb up scree from the lake to a notch with prayer flags where the lake lies behind and a new valley drops away ahead; from there the trail descends into the Altyn Arashan valley, green with meadow and pine, to a cluster of rustic yurt camps around hot springs, where the trek ends in a soak in a wooden hut with the mountains outside. Kyrgyzstan's Ala-Köl has a giant namesake next door, Lake Alakol in Kazakhstan, a salt lake roughly 1,750 times its size famous for flamingos, and the two are confused in every search. The lake is walked from June to September, with snow on the pass at either end of that, and horses carry gear for those who want them. Ala-Köl is a lake that changes colour while you watch, and the pass above it is where you look back.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The pass is safely open only from early July to mid-September — outside this window snow blocks the crossing, and even at the season's edges fresh snowfall can close it overnight.
Acclimatize before you climb — the lake sits above 3,500 metres and the pass near 3,900, so altitude sickness is real; spend a night high near Karakol first and go slowly.
Camp overnight rather than rush through — the water shifts tone hour by hour, deepest turquoise under midday sun and quietest at dawn, so a night on the shore rewards the cold.
A small park fee is collected at the valley gate — Karakol Nature Park charges a few dollars per person where the trail begins, and no road reaches the lake.
Listen for marmots whistling from the rocks — ibex and foxes appear to quiet walkers, and snow leopards live here too, though they keep above the treeline and are almost never seen.

Things to do

1
Ascend to Ala-Köl Pass and drop to the shore
Climb the last steep kilometres to the Ala-Köl Pass near 3,900 metres, a lung-burning push over loose rock, and the entire turquoise basin drops open below you, ringed by bare snow-streaked peaks. From the top the trail plunges down a steep, gravelly slope to the water, a slow, careful half-hour on loose stone. At the bottom the lake turns from a distant sheet into vivid turquoise you can crouch beside and touch.
2
Camp on the frozen shore
Pitch a four-season tent on the bare moraine by the water and spend a night above 3,500 metres. It freezes even in July, but you wake to the lake shifting colour minute by minute as the first light climbs the peaks.
3
Hike through the fir valley
Follow the lower trail from Karakol through spruce and fir forest, crossing icy meltwater streams, before the path breaks above the treeline. It is the green, sheltered half of the trek, loud with birdsong before the bare high country begins.
4
Soak in the Altyn Arashan hot springs
Rest at the Altyn Arashan hot springs, a cluster of rustic boz-üy camps in a green valley at the start or end of the trek. Sink into the warm mineral water to ease legs worn from the climb to the pass.

Watch

Nearby

25 km