Getting There
The most budget-friendly way to get from Tashkent to the national park is to take an electric train or a bus to the city of Gazalkent, then take a taxi. If you prefer a more convenient transportation, then you can take a taxi straight from Tashkent. Prices will still be much lower than European prices. Such taxis depart from Buyuk Ipak Yuli subway station. Moreover, you can order an official taxi from Uz Taxi, My taxi or Yandex taxi mobile apps – their offers are also quite acceptable.
What to Expect
A big portion of the National park is open to tourists. The best season for visiting this area is from May till July. The park includes territories with all types of ecosystems, from lowland valleys to highland alpine meadows and glaciers. In spring it all turns into kingdom of flowers.
Tourists are usually attracted by the Chatkal valley, located in Bostanlyk district. One of its main attractions is an artificial Charvak lake, which is known for its stunning beauty all year round. It is Tashkent”s major source of water, and feeds from Pskem, Kok-Su and Chatkal rivers. The lake valley lies between Ugam, Pskem and Chatkal ridges, which have peaks over 3000 meters high. The highest peak in the immediate vicinity of the lake is the Big Chimgan, 3309 meters high. It”s slopes are covered with snow from November till July.
At the foot of the Big Chimgan there”s a big and famous skiing resort, named after the mountain itself. This place is well-known among ski-fans far beyond Uzbekistan borders. Just 5 kilometers from Chimgan there”s yet another wonderful place for skiing Kumbel mountain with Beldersay resort at its foot. Also, there is a new constructed modern luxury ski resort Amirsoy, which started to operate in December 2019. The ski resort has the ski slopes of different categories for beginners and professional skiers, gondola lift and a few chair-cable lifts, as well as the restaurants and chaletes for accommodation.
History
Ugam-Chatkal is the state national wild nature park, created in 1992 by reorganization of Chatkal biosphere reserve. It is located at Chatkal ridges of Western Tien-Shan, encompassing Akhangaran, Brichmulla and Chirchik lumber reserves, and has a total area of 668350 hectares, which makes it the largest nature protection complex in Uzbekistan.
The National park was created to protect Tien-Shan highland woods and unique ecosystem, inhabited by multiple rare and endangered species of animals and plants. Its territory is a scene of permanent intensive research work on ecology of rare and endangered species, especially Tien-Shan brown bear, and local endemic birds.
Constant efforts are being made to preserve existing woods and to plant new forest territories. Planted by local workers” caring hands, the sweer briar, mountain almonds, apple trees and Crimean pines grow well and gradually form dense woods as they multiply. Nature protection measures helped to significantly increase the number of white-claw bears, wild boars and highland quails. Snow leopards, which became almost extinct, start to return to these lands too.
The fauna of the National park includes over 280 species, of which there are 44 species of mammals, 200 birds, 16 species of reptiles, 2 amphibians and 20 varieties of fish. Flora is by far more diverse: here it counts up to 2200 species of plants, including many rare and endemic, such as Kaufmann”s and Butkov”s tulips, which cover the mountain slopes with wonderful bright carpets in spring, two species of desert-candles huge herbaceous plants, looking indeed like candles planted among emerald spring grass.
Facilities Available
- “Khumson” Sanatorium
- “Chartak” Sanatorium
- “Tibet” Sanatorium
- “Layner” Hotel
- “Nebesa” guest house
- “Sky village” guest house
- “Archazor” Hotel
- “Beldersay” Hotel
- “Le chalet by Amirsoy” mountain resort
- “Piknik” guest house
- “Green paradise” Hotel
- “Asia Chimgan” Hotel
