Kazakhstan Timas38 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
239 metres, to scale.
A slice through Butakovsky gorge where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Great Pyramid · 139 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
239m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
18.5km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
26°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
1,047m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
2 °C warmer at the bottom.
In July the afternoon reaches 28 °C on the floor, against 26 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in May and in September. The rim freezes at night from November to February. The wettest months are from April to May.
- 2°0°Jan
- 5°2°Feb
- 11°9°Mar
- 17°15°Apr
- 22°19°May
- 26°24°Jun
- 28°26°Jul
- 28°26°Aug
- 24°21°Sep
- 16°14°Oct
- 9°7°Nov
- 4°2°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Butakovsky gorge is a gorge in Kazakhstan. The relief model measures 239 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 345 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 18 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Almatynearest town · 9.9 km in a straight line
- Parking 190 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 2.3 km from the floor
- Almaty International Airport (ALA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 19 km in a straight lineCar hire at ALA airport (Almaty)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- In May and in Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The the river runs highest from April to May.
The the river carries about 0.60 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from April to May, fed by melting snow. It is lowest from August to February.
- 0.2 m³/sJan
- 0.3 m³/sFeb
- 1.2 m³/sMar
- 2.1 m³/sApr
- 1.9 m³/sMay
- 1.3 m³/sJun
- 0.6 m³/sJul
- 0.2 m³/sAug
- 0.1 m³/sSep
- 0.1 m³/sOct
- 0.3 m³/sNov
- 0.3 m³/sDec
From about 0.11 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.1 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 143 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 34viewpoints within 5 kmЗамартас, Үшінші кіндік, Слониха and 31 more
- 6marked hiking routes within 4 kmКок-Жайляу Кумбель Горельник, Ак-Булак – Кок Жайлау, Автобус №5 - Кумбель and 3 more
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmСкалы на Лесничестве
- 43footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmнабережная Тажибаева Абдильды and 42 more
- 55car parks within 3 km
- 19information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 19bus stops within 2 km
- 25campsites within 8 kmКөк Жайлау, Вертолётка, Пятипалая ель and 22 more
- 152hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmHotel Chamchirlak, Tay-House, Уют and 149 more
- 35restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Almaty9.9 km in a straight line
- Pervomayka21 km in a straight line
- Burunday22 km in a straight line
- Talghar23 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Butakovsky gorge.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Peakyas2 mountains within 15 km
Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 kmComing soonFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 2 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 16 | 9 | 4 |
| Afternoon · rim | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 19 | 24 | 26 | 26 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 2 |
| Night · rim | -12 | -9 | -1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 4 | -3 | -9 |
| Rain (mm) | 22 | 28 | 46 | 79 | 68 | 50 | 34 | 28 | 24 | 38 | 39 | 27 |
| Rainy days | 6 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Sun hours/day | 5.5 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 7.5 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 10.3 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 6.7 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 22 | 25 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 20 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | 0 | -12 | 22 | 5.5 |
| Feb | 5 | 2 | -9 | 28 | 6.6 |
| Mar | 11 | 9 | -1 | 46 | 6.4 |
| Apr | 17 | 15 | 4 | 79 | 7.5 |
| May | 22 | 19 | 9 | 68 | 9.8 |
| Jun | 26 | 24 | 13 | 50 | 10.1 |
| Jul | 28 | 26 | 15 | 34 | 10.3 |
| Aug | 28 | 26 | 14 | 28 | 10.4 |
| Sep | 24 | 21 | 10 | 24 | 9.2 |
| Oct | 16 | 14 | 4 | 38 | 6.7 |
| Nov | 9 | 7 | -3 | 39 | 4.2 |
| Dec | 4 | 2 | -9 | 27 | 4.2 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,047 m) and the rim (1,392 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 54% | 158% | 65% | 121% | 93% | 63% | 88% | 142% | 71% | 22% | 49% | 36% |
| 2021 | 50% | 140% | 162% | 60% | 68% | 47% | 70% | 155% | 14% | 137% | 73% | 50% |
| 2022 | 63% | 85% | 237% | 43% | 166% | 67% | 81% | 54% | 16% | 92% | 269% | 36% |
| 2023 | 127% | 66% | 62% | 256% | 45% | 48% | 66% | 153% | 194% | 113% | 109% | 151% |
| 2024 | 140% | 96% | 147% | 70% | 305% | 46% | 163% | 152% | 162% | 126% | 82% | 86% |
| 2025 | 100% | 22% | 72% | 45% | 72% | 67% | 49% | 65% | 165% | 40% | 43% | 117% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Butakovsky gorge
Kazakhstan
- 239 mDepth
- 18 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 26°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q30894239) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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