Ala Archa National Park: The Ultimate 2024 Guide

Ala Archa National Park, less than an hour from Bishkek, is a spectacular place. It’s easy to access, the scenery is wonderful and there are a range of incredible hiking trails, from beginner to hard-core.

Whether you visit as a day trip from Bishkek or spend the night in the mountains, visiting Ala Archa National Park should be high on any Kyrgyzstan itinerary.

What are you waiting for? Read our Ultimate Guide to Ala Archa National Park, featuring everything you need to know to make the most out of this very special place.

Ala Archa National Park: Overview

There are many gems hidden in Kyrgyzstan’s mountains and Ala Archa National Park, located just outside the capital, is one of them. 

Less than an hour from Bishkek, this national park features everything you could want in an alpine park: canyons, glaciers, valleys and the high peaks of the Tian Shan Mountains. 

The park covers about 200 square kilometres and has an altitude range from around 1,500m at the entrance to 4895m at the highest peak, Tian Shansky. Its name comes from the Ala Archa River that runs throughout the park. 

I’ve read that there are around 20 glaciers and 50 mountain peaks within the park – I have no way of fact-checking this, but if it’s true, it’s pretty awesome. 

If you’re into animals, there’s also a good amount of wildlife in Ala Archa National Park.  Snow leopards (although very elusive), ibex, lynx and marmots all call Ala Archa home. While you shouldn’t bank on spotting a snow leopard, the others are all possible. We saw a massive herd of ibex during our hike in Ala Archa and it was awesome!

Want more awesome adventures in Kyrgyzstan? Read 14 Awesome Things to Do in Kyrgyzstan

Ala Archa National Park Location 

Ala Archa National Park is very conveniently located, just 35 km south of Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek. This translates to around 45 minutes’ drive in a private vehicle. 

For another beautiful spot close to Bishkek, check out Kol Tor Lake

Best Time to Visit Ala Archa National Park

While Ala Archa National Park can theoretically be visited year-round, the best time to visit is from June to September, during Kyrgyzstan’s summer. You can (largely) expect warm, sunny days and cool evenings during this time.

However, as is always the case in the mountains in Kyrgyzstan, you should prepare for 4 seasons in one day, even in summer!

Related: The Essential Guide to Kel Suu Lake

You can visit Ala Archa National Park in the shoulder season (April – May and October – November) and even winter, so long as you’re comfortable with cold-weather trekking and sufficiently skilled. Do note that public transport to the park may not be running at this time, so visiting may require private transport. 

During the winter, the park is covered in snow, requiring extra gear and safety skills. For this reason, unless you’re an experienced winter hiker, it’s probably best to go on a tour.

How to Get to Ala Archa National Park 

As stated above, Ala Archa National Park is only around 35 km from Bishkek. This makes it relatively straightforward to get to. Of course, how straightforward depends on which method you choose!

To get to the heart of the mountains in Kyrgyzstan in Ala Archa, your options are to self-drive, hire a private driver, take public transport or hitchhike. 

Self-Drive or Private Driver

It’s pretty common to either rent a car or hire private drivers / taxis to get around Kyrgyzstan. If you’d like to rent a car, your best bet is to check on Discover Cars for the best deals. Once you have your rental, from Bishkek, the drive is straightforward and should take around 40 – 45 minutes. 

If you’d like to hire a driver, you can do so online quite easily. 

You can also hire a taxi to take you to Ala Archa National Park. These can be arranged from the taxi stand at Osh Bazaar, Koisha Hostel or your accommodation. Prices vary but expect to pay a minimum of 3000 KGS for a car for the entire day, including waiting time. 

Public Transport

With a bit of effort, you can also reach Ala Archa National Park by public transport. 

Marshrutka (minibus) #265 to Kashka Suu leaves from the NE corner of Toktogul and Beishenaliev near Osh Bazaar. Kashka Suu is the nearest village to Ala Archa National Park. 

While these seem to leave pretty frequently throughout the day, it’s reported that the only ones that go directly to the park are the ones that leave at 8.00 am and 10.50 am. 

If you take a minibus outside of these hours, it will likely drop you in the village of Kashka Suu. If this is the case, you need to find a way to cover the remaining distance to the park gate (around 7 km or so). You can always ask the driver to drop you off at the gate (potentially for a fee – this seems to work quite often), get a taxi or hitchhike. 

When we went, our bus took us the entire way to the gate.  I’m not sure if we were just lucky, or, if standard practice has changed. Please let us know your experiences in the comments below!

Read next: Ala Kul Lake Essential Guide – Everything You Need To Know

Once you get to the gate, you pay your park entrance fees. These are 80 KGS per person and 500 KGS if you’re in a car. 

From the Ala Archa National Park entrance, it’s another 12 km to the second gate, where the alplager and trailhead are. From here, you’re best trying to hitch a lift with a day visitor. 

Once we were dropped off at the first gate, we got a ride to the trailhead within minutes. 

To return from Ala Archa National Park, you can catch a marshrutka nearly every three hours at the first gate.  They leave at 12.00 pm, 3.00 pm, and 5.30 pm. Or, you can hitchhike – see below. 

Hitchhiking 

Of course, hitchhiking is always an option. Hitchhiking is pretty common in Kyrgyzstan, although most drivers will expect a small contribution for petrol.

Our thoughts are that it will be easier to hitch a ride out of the park than in, as pretty much every car leaving Ala Archa National Park will be heading back to Bishkek, but not every car out of Bishkek will be heading in that direction. 

We hitchhiked for the return journey from Ala Archa National Park back to Bishkek and it was very easy – especially since it was a Sunday and there were lots of locals out enjoying the park. 

Where to next? Read: The Essential Guide to Tash Rabat Caravanserai

Kyrgyzstan Hiking – Trails in Ala Archa National Park 

Hiking in the beautiful Kyrgyzstan mountains of Ala Archa National Park is the main draw for coming to the park. 

The trails begin at the alplager (i.e., Soviet mountaineering camp), also referred to as ‘the second gate’. There you’ll find a sign with a variety of hiking options. 

While there are quite a few hikes in Ala Archa National Park to choose from, three hikes in particular are the most popular. These are the Ala Archa River Trail, the Ak-Sai Waterfall Trail and the Ak-Sai Glacier Trail. 

From the alplager, the path to the left leads to the Ak Sai Waterfall. 

The trail initially ascends through the forest before reaching a beautiful valley, surrounded by even more beautiful Kyrgyzstan mountains. 

From this point, the trail is relatively flat. After around 2 hours, you’ll reach the waterfall camping area (2,665m). As the trail doesn’t go directly to the waterfall itself, you’ll have to venture off the trail to get up close. 

You can find a digital map of this Ala Archa hiking trail on AllTrails and Wikiloc.

If you’d like to continue from Ak-Sai Waterfall, you can keep hiking to the Ak-Sai Glacier. This is a further 2 – 2.5 hours of hiking, involving 2.5 km of lateral distance and 500m of elevation gain.

The path is fairly well-trodden and marked by the occasional blue and white trail marker. It is very steep, with long steep sections. 

The trail ends at Ratsek Hut (3300m), a base camp for professional alpinists who attempt to climb the 4500m technical peaks surrounding the area. As you approach Ratsek Hut, the Ak-Sai Glacier becomes very impressive. 

If you’re spending the night, you can pitch your tent in the area around Ratsek Hut. 

You can find a digital map of this Ala Archa hiking trail on AllTrails and Wikiloc.

Al Archa River Trail

From the alplager, the path to the right leads to a relatively easy walk called the Ala Archa River Trail. 

This will bring you to an open valley with epic views of the Kyrgyzstan mountains in Ala Archa. You can just go for a couple of kms and turn around, making this an excellent choice if you’re not that experienced or short on time. 

However, it’s worth noting that there are a few different variations on this hike, making it a ‘choose your own adventure’ that you can make longer and more challenging should you wish. 

On one variation, you can climb a small and easy peak (3393m), where there’s an old Soviet weather station. You can find the map for this variation here. 

For the truly adventurous, you can turn this short and easy day hike into a great overnighter. If you continue further up the valley, you’ll eventually reach the remains of an old Soviet-era ski base at 3400m. This sits just below the foot of the Ala-Archinskii, Manas and Toktogula glaciers in a beautiful bowl surrounded by mountains. It’s truly epic! 

You can camp here for the night before making your way back to the Ala Archa National Park entrance. 

You can find a digital map of this Ala Archa hiking trail on AllTrails and Wikiloc.

Discover Kyrgyzstan’s most epic hiking trail, The Ak Suu Traverse

Ala Archa Hiking Options

Which hike in Ala Archa National Park to choose? Well, that depends on your time and the level of challenge you’re looking for. 

If you have enough time (a whole day) and want a good hike, then choose the Ak-Sai Waterfall Trail. 

If you have 2 days, or are looking for a really big day and really like a challenge, then go all the way to Ak-Sai Glacier. Do note that to realistically do this in a whole day, you’ll need to arrange private transportation. 

If you’re limited on time or just want something a bit chiller, then choose the Al Archa River Trail. 

And of course, you’re not just limited to these options! There are so many more, including to the Adygene Glacier and some peak-bagging. You can take a look on Wikiloc for more options. 

1 Day Ala Archa Hikes

2 Day Ala Archa Hikes

Do You Need a Guide to Hike at Ala Archa National Park? 

You absolutely do not need a guide to hike at Ala Archa National Park! 

For the trails mentioned here, as long as you bring enough food and water with you, you will be fine on your own.

If you prefer not to hike alone, the Trekkers Union of Kyrgyzstan organises very cheap hiking tours. Otherwise, there are plenty (and I mean plenty) of options for trekking tours to Ala Archa online. This highly-rated day tour goes to Ak-Sai Waterfall, whereas this tour offers a shorter and easier hike.

Travel insurance, as always, is essential. Hiking in the mountains is always an adventure, and if something goes wrong, you want to be covered. We use and recommend SafetyWing. Trust us, we’ve used a lot of travel insurance and they really are the best.

Other Things to Do At Ala Archa National Park

What else is there to do at Ala Archa National Park? Have a picnic, of course!

Ala Archa is very popular with Kyrgyz families for weekend picnicking. If you visit the park on the weekend over the summer, you’ll see lots of families around enjoying the Kyrgyzstan mountains. Don’t be surprised if you get invited to join. 

Want to do some horse trekking in Kyrgyzstan’s mountains? Read our guide to Song Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan’s most popular horse trekking destination

What to Expect in Kyrgyzstan’s Mountains at Ala Archa National Park 

Don’t expect much in the way of amenities. While there are some basic facilities at the Alpager, these are haphazard and sporadic. Sometimes there’s food, sometimes there isn’t. Likewise for the small shop. 

Moral of the story: bring all you need in the way of supplies from Bishkek. 

What to Pack For Ala Archa National Park

What you bring to Ala Archa National Park depends on whether you’re going for the day, or for an overnight in the mountains in Kyrgyzstan.

If you’re heading for an overnight, then you’ll need a lot more gear! Check out our complete packing list for multi-day treks in the mountains.

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