Location: Lake Kaindy, Kolsay Lakes National Park, Tian Shan Mountains, Kazakhstan
Distance: 3 miles (out and back)
Peak Elevation: 6,285′
Elevation Gain: 634′
Difficulty: Moderate

Lake Kaindy’s turquoise water and submerged trees are a mysterious natural wonder ripe for exploration. Eerie, white ghost trees of the Sunken Forest are frozen in place in the tranquil waters. The lake is nestled high in a forgotten pocket of the Küngöy Ala-Too range of the Tian Shan Mountains.

Off-road Journey | Lake Hike | Origin Story of the Sunken Forest

Directions

Trailhead: Head southeast on the road.
0.8 miles: Turn right to head down to the lake.
1.5 miles: You have reached the final viewpoint for the lake. Turn around and return to the trailhead.

Off-road Journey

Half of the adventure is getting to the trailhead. From our guesthouse in Saty, we head out in three 4WD vehicles. We encounter bumpy roads with deep grooves and large craters filled with water. At two spots, we ford the river. You can feel as some of the tires lose traction while other tires take over and push the gravel away. We arrive at a parking lot with many other all-terrain vehicles including families in old Soviet loaf-shaped vans.

Lake Hike

At the horse corral, we begin our hike by crossing a bridge (actually two long wobbly planks of wood). The horse trail climbs the mountainside above the Kaindy River. It is covered in mud, hoof tracks, and horse poop. You must stay on the edges of the trail if you want to keep your boots clean. There are many horses scampering up and down this road.

At the first junction, turn right on a path that descends to Lake Kaindy. At the bottom of this path, there is another horse corral for those who rode horses to the lake. There are many side trails where you can position for better view of the lake. The first spur trail leads to the water’s edge where you observe the lake water funneled down the river. The next two offshoots take you to a picnic area with a snack shop, floating dock, and an observation deck. If you keep going, the trail veers into the forest and then wraps around back to the lake. From this endpoint, you can see the entire length of the lake. The jade-colored lake is at the center of a bowl with mountain slopes on all sides.

Origin Story of the Sunken Forest

There was a massive 8.0 earthquake in 1911 that caused a landslide of mud and rocks to dam the area. Because of the blockage, the water flowing from the mountains formed a lake. The Asian Spruce trees that once grew here in this spot were flooded. Hence the name Sunken Forest. At the end of the lake, you can see the remains of the Sunken Forest. The cold temperatures have preserved about 100 bleached white trunks sticking out of the lake. After walking to the end of the lake, we head back down the main road.