Flower Tours park Altyn-Emel.

“Grandiose things are done with grandiose means. Nature alone makes a great gift”

Herzen A.I.

Excursions on natural national parks of Kazakhstan.

The Ulken-Kalkan Mountains are located on the right bank of the Ili River in the territory of the Altyn-Emel State Natural Park, east of the Kapshagai reservoir in the Kerbulak district of the Almaty region.
The Kysty-Kalkany mountains are located 175 kilometers northeast of the city of Almaty between the spurs of the Zhungarsky Alatau - the Degeres mountains located to the west and the Kattu-Tau mountains in the east.
The Kalkan mountain range, with a shield, covers the Basque in the southwest (“Kalkan” - “shield”). The Ulken-Kalkan mountains are part of the Kalkan mountain range, which stretches from west to east for 23.5 kilometers, its largest width is 9 kilometers.
The length of the Ulken-Kalkan mountains, from west to east, is 17.5 kilometers, width, from south to north, almost 13.4 kilometers. The highest height of 1281 meters above the level is located in the northern part of the mountain range.
In the central part of the massif several peaks rise in height over 1105.8, 1090.4, 1058.4, 1010.3 and 1015.1 meters above sea level. This is the longest and highest mountain range in the Kalkan ridge. The Kosbastau tract occupies the entire northern tip of the Ulken-Kalkan mountains.
In the eastern part of the mountain, Ulken-Kalkan is bordered by the Zhazgybulak tract located at an altitude of 640 meters above sea level and further to the east in the meridional direction there are two more tracts - Zhelbulak and Zhalandybulak.
In the northern part of the mountains at an altitude of 670 meters above sea level is the tract Saksauli. The southern slopes of Ulken-Kalkan descend to the right bank of the Ili River at an altitude of 477.4 meters above sea level.
In the western part of the mountain, they are bordered by the Kysty-Kalkan massif and in the south-west by the Akkum-Kalkan sand massif, which are called Singing Dune. The Ulken-Kalkan mountains are composed of effusive and granitoid deposits of Carboniferous, which are 300 million years old, deposits are mainly represented by volcanics, Permian and Carboniferous deposits, and the most ancient deposits are Silurian.
Most of the rocks of the Kysty-Kalkan mountains are mainly Paleozoic rocks that are 200 to 400 million years old.

Authority and photos:
Alexander Petrov.