photogenic
Jeti-Oguz Red Rocks
A wall of blood-red sandstone fins called the Seven Bulls rising from green pasture, with the cleft Broken Heart rock beside the road into the valley.
21 km · about 25 min drive
AsiaKyrgyzstanIssyk-Kul
Karakol
Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan · Asia
About Karakol
Karakol is worth a stop: 10 minutes from Birbash, 22km from Altyn Arashan.
Karakol is in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, with about 84,000 people. The nearest town is Birbash, about 5 km away.
Karakol, formerly Przhevalsk, is the fourth-largest city in Kyrgyzstan, near the eastern tip of Issyk-Kul, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) from the Kyrgyzstan–China border and 380 kilometres (240 mi) from the capital Bishkek. It is the administrative capital of Issyk-Kul Region. Its area is 44 square kilometres (17 sqRead more
mi), and its resident population was 84,351 in 2021 (both including Pristan-Przhevalsk). To the north, on highway A363, is Tüp, and to the southwest Jeti-Ögüz resort.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Karakol?
Within an hour or so of Karakol: Jeti-Oguz Red Rocks (21 km), Altyn Arashan (22 km), Kolsai Lakes (50 km), Lake Kaindy (56 km).
Where is Karakol?
Karakol is in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, about 5 km from Birbash.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 84,351
- Continent
- Asia
- Country
- Kyrgyzstan
- Region
- Issyk-Kul
- Timezone
- Asia/Bishkek
- Coordinates
- 42.4905, 78.3920
Tags
Worth the detour from Karakol
4 notable places within an hour's drive.
natural wonder
Altyn Arashan
A hot-spring hamlet at 2,600m in an alpine valley below Peak Palatka, reached by a punishing 4WD track from Ak-Suu. Soaking tubs sit in shacks by the river.
22 km · about 25 min drive
natural wonder
Kolsai Lakes
Three alpine lakes stepped through spruce forest in the Tian Shan south of Almaty, the lowest reachable by a scenic mountain drive: often called the 'Pearls of the Tian Shan'.
50 km · about 55 min drive
photogenic
Lake Kaindy
A sunken spruce forest drowned by a 1911 earthquake landslide, with bleached trunks still standing above the cold turquoise surface at 2,000m.
56 km · about 65 min drive
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