The Most Beautiful Lakes in Kyrgyzstan
5 places · updated 14 October 2026
In short: By our ranking, the most beautiful lakes in Kyrgyzstan are Issyk-Kul, Lake Sary-Chelek and Song Kol Lake. The list covers 5 lakes. Last updated 14 October 2026.
Kyrgyzstan is almost entirely mountain, with the Tian Shan ranges covering most of the country, and its lakes sit high in that terrain: in glacial cirques, behind landslide dams and on wide summer pastures where herders still set up yurts. The thin, clear air and the absence of large towns around most of them keep the water startlingly bright, while Issyk-Kul, the country's great inland sea, is only the most famous of many.
Lake Sary-Chelek, at the heart of a biosphere reserve in the west, lies among walnut and spruce forest at about 1,870 metres. Song Kol is a broad lake at about 3,000 metres, surrounded by open jailoo pastures where nomadic families graze herds through the summer. Ala-Kul, a turquoise glacial lake above Karakol at over 3,500 metres, sits under the peaks of the Terskey Ala-Too. Köl-Suu, near the southeastern border, is a long, narrow lake filling a steep-walled gorge behind a natural dam.
In this list
| # | Place | Type | UNESCO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Issyk-Kul | Lake | |
| 2 | Lake Sary-Chelek | Lake | |
| 3 | Song Kol Lake | Lake | |
| 4 | Ala-Kul | Lake | |
| 5 | Köl-Suu | Lake |
01 Issyk-Kul
Kyrgyzstan · 29.5 km from Cholpon-Ata42.417° N 77.250° E
Bgag · CC0 The lake has a long human story. It was a stopover on the Silk Road; the Chinese monk Xuanzang described it in the 7th century, and Qing records called it Temurtu-Nor, the "Iron Lake". Genetic studies of graves near its shores in 2022 showed the Black Death present here in 1338–1339, supporting the view that the pandemic began in this region before it spread across Eurasia. The water level stood about eight metres lower in the Middle Ages, and divers have found drowned settlements in its shallows, among them a 13th-century town submerged after 15th-century earthquakes.
02 Lake Sary-Chelek
Kyrgyzstan41.895° N 71.957° E
Marat Nadjibaev · CC BY-SA 4.0 Sary-Chelek is the centrepiece of the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve, founded in 1959 and designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1978. The reserve covers almost 24,000 hectares at altitudes from 1,200 to more than 4,200 metres, and its headquarters are in the village of Arkyt, just south of the lake. Six smaller lakes — Kylaaköl, Iyriköl, Bakalyköl, Aramköl, Chöychökköl and Chachaköl — lie scattered in the low hills to the south. In 1992 the lake was pictured on a Kyrgyz postage stamp.
Did you know? Around 1,500 plant species, 46 species of mammals and about 150 bird species are protected within the reserve.
03 Song Kol Lake
Kyrgyzstan41.850° N 75.150° E
Vilya Shoni · CC BY-SA 4.0 The grasslands and marshy shores are a refuge for birds; some 190 species have been recorded at the lake, and black-headed gulls and demoiselle cranes breed here in colonies, along with bar-headed geese, black storks and birds of prey. Part of the lake and its shores has been protected within the Karatal-Japyryk nature reserve since 1998, and in 2011 Song-Köl was listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance. People have used this high valley for a very long time: ancient petroglyphs, stone settings and burial mounds scattered around the basin bear witness to nomadic settlement long before the present day.
Did you know? The lake sits in a high basin about 57 kilometres long and 29 kilometres wide, enclosed by ridges on every side.
04 Ala-Kul
Kyrgyzstan · 23.2 km from Karakol42.318° N 78.536° E
Ondřej Žváček · CC BY 2.5 Beyond the pass the trail drops into the Keldike valley and on towards Altyn-Arashan, so walkers see a wide cross-section of the range in a short time: forest, alpine meadow, scree, glacier ice and the long blue strip of water in its stone cradle. The area lies within the Karakol national park, and the scale of the scenery is the reason to come.
Did you know? Although the name is read as 'variegated lake', it may in fact be borrowed from the Ala-Too mountains rather than from the lake's colours.
05 Köl-Suu
Kyrgyzstan40.639° N 76.406° E
Калачев Сергей · CC BY 3.0 Part of the lake's power comes from its remoteness. Nothing on the approach prepares you for the moment when the valley narrows and the water appears between the cliffs, and the experience is entirely one of rock, sky and silence. Visitors stay in seasonal yurt camps in the valley below, with felt walls and the simplest comforts, and continue to the shore on foot or on horseback.
Did you know? Despite its length, the lake is shallow: published accounts put its deepest points at no more than about ten metres, varying from year to year.
How this list is ranked
Places are chosen for how they look, not for how famous they are: each one has its own description and a photograph credited to its author. The order is a single world ranking that weighs the beauty of the place in curated photography together with how widely it is documented — the number of language editions of its encyclopedia article and how often that article is read in a year. The list is rebuilt as places are added, so the order and the counts on this page are always current.
Questions people ask
- What are the most beautiful lakes in Kyrgyzstan?
- On our list, Issyk-Kul ranks first, followed by Lake Sary-Chelek and Song Kol Lake.
- How high is Song Kol lake?
- Song Kol lies at about 3,000 metres above sea level in the central Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan. It is frozen for much of the year, and its shores are summer pastures used by herders.
- How was Lake Sary-Chelek formed?
- Sary-Chelek formed when a massive landslide, probably triggered by an earthquake, blocked a mountain valley. The lake is the centre of the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
- How many lakes are on this list in Kyrgyzstan?
- The list covers 5 lakes.