4K | Kok Zhailau during the winter
Kok Zhailau (Kazakh: Көк Жайлау, romanized: Kók Jaılaý, lit. 'sky-blue summer pasture', Russian: Кок Жайляу) is a plateau in the Trans-Ili Alatau. It is located at an altitude of 1,450 m (4,760 ft) to 1,740 m (5,710 ft) between the Small and Big Almaty gorges, 10 km from the city of Almaty (in Kazakhstan).
The plateau is part of the Ile-Alatau National Park, a protected area. Almaty, ski resort Shymbulak, Medeu and Big Almaty peak can be seen from the plateau.
The Kok-Zhailau plateau is a popular tourist attraction. The area is accessible for hiking, biking, skiing, and horse riding. It is the only reachable area within the Ile-Alatau National Park.
The area is major tourist attraction on account of its unspoilt nature. Ecotourism is prevalent in the area. This also includes scientific ecotourism, cognitive ecotourism, blindwatching, botanical excursions, video and photo excursions, ethnic tourism and other activities.
To climb the Kok-Zhaylau is necessary to make an ascent on the Northern watershed of the gorge. This route is very popular due to the fact that during one day from the Kok-Zhailau plateau, you can make different hikes: 1) on the Terisbutak river, make a descent to The Big Almaty gorge – to the city along the "Observatorsky comb"; 2) along the Kamenskiy ridge to the health resort "AK Kain" through the Maloalmatinsky and Kamenskoye gorges, etc.
The key point that attracts European tourists to Kazakhstan, according to the opinion tourism professionals are pristine nature and its corners, which are similar to Ile Alatau national park. In recent years, ecotourism tourism has become famous all over the world, who pays little attention to the surrounding environment. There are hiking trails of various difficulty levels in the tract. There are places for camping. Information stands were installed with a description of the animals living here and information about rare plants. The end point of the trail to Kok Zhailau is considered to be a waterfall.