Big Almaty Lake
Interesting facts
- Its water level can swing by up to 20 metres between the late-summer peak and the late-winter low.
- The lake holds roughly 14 million cubic metres of water, fed largely by meltwater from the glaciers above it.
- Even in summer the water stays cold, averaging only about 8 to 10 degrees Celsius.
- The Big Almaty River both feeds the lake from the south and drains it, flowing on down towards the city.
- Big Almaty Peak, a 3,681-metre pyramid rising near the lake, can be seen from the centre of Almaty.
- The nearby Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory was founded in 1957 and operates two one-metre Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes.
- Astronomers at the observatory above the lake have recorded the afterglows of gamma-ray bursts and discovered new variable stars.
Why it is worth it
Big Almaty Lake sits in a high bowl of the Trans-Ili Alatau, at about 2,510 metres, only some fifteen kilometres south of the centre of Kazakhstan's largest city, and the contrast is the first surprise: an hour's drive from avenues and apartment blocks brings you to a sheet of cold mountain water framed by peaks of over four thousand metres. Three summits stand over it, Sovetov at 4,317 metres, Ozyorny at 4,110 metres and Turist at 3,954 metres, and their snowfields and scree slopes drop straight to the shore, so the lake reads as a mirror laid at the foot of a wall of mountains.
Its colour is the reason people come and come back. The water changes through the year from a light, milky green to an intense turquoise blue, and the level rises and falls with the seasons, highest in August and lowest in February, when the shoreline widens. The lake is about 1.6 kilometres long and up to a kilometre wide, and 30 to 40 metres deep. Its basin was shaped by the restless tectonics of the Tien Shan, a range where earthquakes have long rearranged valleys and dammed rivers.
The lake is also a working reservoir, one of the main sources of drinking water for Almaty, and swimming in it is forbidden; it is a place for looking rather than bathing. It lies within the Ile-Alatau National Park, and since 2012 it has fallen within the administrative boundaries of the city itself. Higher up the road, the Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory looks down over the water and the surrounding ridges, and is open to visitors, with simple accommodation for those who want to stay above the lake overnight.
Getting there
The lake lies about 15 km south of central Almaty as the crow flies, roughly an hour's drive by mountain road. Almaty International Airport (ALA), about 34 km away, is the country's main international gateway. Visitors usually come by taxi, organised tour or private car; the road passes through Ile-Alatau National Park.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Big Almaty Lake is a natural alpine reservoir. It is located in the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains, 15 km south from the center of Almaty in Kazakhstan. The lake is 2511 meters above sea level.
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