Almaty city skyline viewed from Kok Tobe hill, mid-rise buildings and leafy avenues backed by snow-capped Zailiysky Alatau ridgeline

Natural place · Used in 1 trip

Almaty North Ring Road

Leave central Almaty by 07:00 to reach Sorbulak in early morning light, when birds are most active and heat haze has not yet built up over the open water.

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Hero image: Dauren Nabijan via Wikimedia Commons · CC0-1.0 · Source

Overview

Leave central Almaty by 07:00 to reach Sorbulak in early morning light, when birds are most active and heat haze has not yet built up over the open water. Take the A350 northern ring road westbound, then merge onto the M-36 highway toward Kapchagai. The road climbs out of the Almaty basin onto the Karaoy plateau in about 20 km; the steppe opens up ahead. Fuel up before leaving the city — there are no reliable filling stations between the ring road junction and Kapchagai. Total drive to the Sorbulak south shore viewpoint is 40–50 minutes depending on traffic on the ring road.

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Gallery

Anton Yefimov via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 · Source
sussexbirder via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Source
Anton Yefimov via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 · Source
Anton Yefimov via Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-3.0 · Source

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Sorbulak Lake and Ile Delta Birding · Step 1

Visit notes

Viewing visit notes for Sorbulak Lake and Ile Delta Birding

Almaty — North Ring Road Departure

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Almaty city skyline viewed from Kok Tobe hill, mid-rise buildings and leafy avenues backed by snow-capped Zailiysky Alatau ridgeline

Leave central Almaty by 07:00 to reach Sorbulak in early morning light, when birds are most active and heat haze has not yet built up over the open water. Take the A350 northern ring road westbound, then merge onto the M-36 highway toward Kapchagai. The road climbs out of the Almaty basin onto the Karaoy plateau in about 20 km; the steppe opens up ahead. Fuel up before leaving the city — there are no reliable filling stations between the ring road junction and Kapchagai. Total drive to the Sorbulak south shore viewpoint is 40–50 minutes depending on traffic on the ring road.

Tip: Download the 2GIS offline map for Almaty Region before leaving — the access tracks to Sorbulak viewpoints do not appear on Google Maps. Setting '43.70, 76.95' as a waypoint in your navigation puts you near the south dam road.