Day Tour to Lake Kaindy (Sunken Forest) from Almaty

A full-day or multi-day tour from Almaty to Lake Kaindy – a 400-meter-long lake formed by the 1911 Kebin earthquake, famous for its submerged spruce forest rising from turquoise water at 2,000 m elevation, 130 km southeast of the city within Kolsai Lakes National Park.

What to expect on the Lake Kaindy tour from Almaty

The Lake Kaindy tour from Almaty takes you to one of Kazakhstan’s most photographed natural phenomena — an underwater forest of Tien Shan spruce trees that have been standing submerged for over a century, their bleached bare trunks protruding from turquoise water like the masts of a sunken fleet. It’s a genuinely strange and beautiful sight, and it exists because of one specific moment in geological history.

On January 3, 1911, the Kebin earthquake — magnitude 8.0 — struck the northern Tien Shan. It was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in Central Asia, killing 452 people and destroying nearly every building in Almaty (then Verny). In the mountains 130 km to the southeast, the shaking triggered a massive limestone landslide that dammed a forested gorge. Over the following years, rainwater and snowmelt filled the basin behind the natural dam, submerging an entire stand of Schrenk’s spruce. The cold water (never exceeding 6°C even in summer) and mineral content preserved the trees instead of rotting them. More than a century later, they’re still standing.

The lake is only 400 m long and about 30 m deep — small by alpine lake standards. But its appearance is unlike anything else in the region or arguably anywhere. The limestone deposits give the water a shifting turquoise-blue color. Above the waterline, the trunks are bleached white and stripped of bark and branches. Below it, the trees remain remarkably intact — branches, even needles, preserved in the cold mineral water. Divers who’ve explored the underwater forest describe it as surreal.

Getting here is part of the experience. The last 10 km to the lake require an off-road vehicle on a rough dirt track that crosses riverbeds and navigates large boulders. This is not a paved-road destination.

Detailed Itinerary

Drive from Almaty to Saty Village (4–5 hours)

We pick you up early and drive east and south toward the village of Saty, the gateway for both Kolsai Lakes and Lake Kaindy. The drive follows the A3 highway before turning south through the Chilik Valley into the foothills of the Kungei Alatau. The landscape shifts from steppe to river valley to mountain foothills. Total distance: approximately 280 km to Saty.

Off-road from Saty to Lake Kaindy (30–45 minutes)

The turnoff to Kaindy is about 1 km before reaching Saty village, near a cemetery. From here, the road becomes a rough dirt track following the Kaindy River upstream through the Kaindy Gorge. The scenery is dramatic — narrow valley, towering spruce-covered slopes, river crossings — but the road surface is genuinely rough. We use a suitable 4WD vehicle. Old Soviet UAZ vans also operate as local taxis for this stretch. The total off-road distance is approximately 10 km.

Walk to the lake (30–45 minutes)

The road ends at a flat area where you may see yurt vendors selling food and drinks, and horsemen offering rides to the lake. From here, a walking trail leads gently uphill through meadow and forest. The walk is approximately 2 km, easy and scenic. A steeper descent at the end brings you to the lake shore.

At Lake Kaindy (1–2 hours)

The lake reveals itself gradually as you descend — first the bleached trunks rising from water, then the extraordinary color of the water itself. The shoreline is rocky and narrow. Walk along the shore to see the submerged trees from different angles. Where the Kaindy River enters the lake, the water is slightly warmer and shallower — this is where the most-photographed trees stand.

For a higher perspective, a platform/viewpoint is accessible 15 minutes further up the trail above the lake — worth the extra effort for panoramic photos.

Diving: It’s technically possible to dive in Lake Kaindy and explore the underwater forest, but this requires a dive certificate, full equipment, and a permit from park authorities. The cold water (3–6°C) makes this an advanced-level dive. We don’t include diving in our standard tour but can arrange it on request.

Return to Saty or continue to Kolsai Lakes

We drive back to Saty village. Depending on your tour package, you can either stay overnight in Saty (for a multi-day trip including Kolsai Lakes and/or Charyn Canyon) or begin the long drive back to Almaty.

The 1911 Kebin Earthquake: the event that created Lake Kaindy

Lake Kaindy exists because of a single catastrophic event. The Kebin earthquake (also called the Chon-Kemin earthquake) struck on January 3, 1911, with a magnitude of 8.0 (some sources say Ms 8.2). It was the culmination of a remarkable 30-year sequence of major earthquakes in the northern Tien Shan — including the 1887 Verny earthquake (M 7.3, which destroyed most of Almaty) and the 1889 Chilik earthquake (M 8.0–8.3).

The 1911 earthquake produced surface faulting across 200 km of the Chon-Kemin and Chilik valleys and triggered massive landslides throughout the region. One of these landslides — a wall of limestone rubble — fell across the narrow Kaindy Gorge and created a natural dam. Water accumulated behind it over the following years, eventually submerging the spruce forest that had grown in the gorge.

The same earthquake created many of the other landslide features visible in the Kungei Alatau today. The Kolsai Lakes are also believed to be partly landslide-tectonic in origin, associated with the 1887 and 1911 events.

For visitors, this means Lake Kaindy is geologically young — barely over a century old. The trees you see were alive when the earthquake struck. They drowned in place. The cold, mineral-rich water preserved them. This is not ancient history; it’s recent catastrophe turned into an accidental natural monument.

The name: why “Birch Lake” has no birches

“Kaindy” (Қайыңды) means “birch” in Kazakh. The paradox is obvious — the lake is surrounded by conifers, and the submerged trees are spruce. The explanation: below the lake, further down the gorge, lies the largest birch grove in the entire Tien Shan, which gave its name to the gorge, the river, and eventually the lake. The birches are downstream; the spruces are in the water.

Why book a guided Lake Kaindy tour?

The off-road track to Lake Kaindy is not navigable in a standard car. You need a 4WD vehicle, and the route crosses rivers at points where water depth varies seasonally — an experienced driver who knows the current conditions is essential. Beyond logistics, the geological story of the earthquake, the preservation of the trees, and the ecology of the park are invisible without interpretation. And combining Kaindy with Kolsai Lakes and Charyn Canyon into an efficient multi-day itinerary requires local knowledge of road conditions, guesthouse availability, and park regulations.

FAQ: Lake Kaindy Tour

Can I visit Lake Kaindy as a day trip from Almaty? Possible but very long — 12–14 hours with 9–10 hours of driving. We recommend combining Kaindy with Kolsai Lakes in a 2-day trip with an overnight in Saty village.

Do I need a 4WD to reach the lake? Yes. The last 10 km from the Saty turnoff is a rough off-road track with river crossings, large boulders, and steep gradients. Standard cars cannot make it. We provide a 4WD vehicle on all our Kaindy tours. Local UAZ taxi services also operate from Saty.

Is Lake Kaindy the same as the Kolsai Lakes? No. Kaindy is a separate lake about 15 km southeast of Saty village. It’s within the same national park (Kolsai Lakes National Park) but in a different gorge. The Kolsai Lakes are three cascading lakes to the southwest of Saty. They’re often visited together but are distinct destinations.

Can I swim in Lake Kaindy? The water temperature is 3–6°C year-round. Some brave visitors wade in where the river enters the lake, but extended swimming is not realistic. This is glacier-fed, mineral-rich mountain water.

Can I dive in the sunken forest? Technically yes, but it requires a dive certificate, full cold-water diving equipment, and a permit from the national park authorities. Permits are reportedly difficult to obtain. The cold water (3–6°C) makes this an advanced dive. We can help arrange it on special request.

When is the best time to visit? June through September. The off-road track may be impassable in early spring (snowmelt floods) or after heavy summer rain. September and early October offer autumn colors — golden birch trees surrounding turquoise water — which many photographers consider the peak season.

What happened to the trees? Why didn’t they decompose? The lake formed suddenly when an earthquake landslide dammed the gorge in 1911. The spruce trees were submerged by cold (3–6°C) mineral-rich water that effectively preserved them. In warmer water, they would have decomposed long ago. The cold and minerals acted as natural preservatives.

Is Lake Kaindy related to Lake Issyk? Both lakes were created by natural dam events, but the causes differ. Kaindy was formed by a landslide from the 1911 earthquake. Issyk’s original lake was formed 8,000–10,000 years ago by an ancient rockslide, then devastated by a 1963 mudflow and later rebuilt. They’re about 80 km apart and represent different geological stories.