Kazarman: Rock Art and Hiking Routes

Travelers choosing Kazarman as a destination or stopover can choose between archaeological sites, hiking and horseback riding routes, and longer road trips. If you are looking for a hotel in Kazarman, it helps to consider which of these types of travel is your main focus. For destinations with seasonal access, it is especially worth considering each route and its time frame separately.

Rock Art and Cultural Heritage

Saimaluu Tash State Park lies south of Kazarman along the Kurart River and was established in 2001. Saimaly-Tash is also nearby. There are about 10,000 stones with images there; the oldest date from the third to the early second millennium BC. Saimaly-Tash has remained a sacred site from the third millennium BC, through the Middle Ages, and up to the present day.

Kazarman is also a starting point for trips to the Saimaluu-Tash rock art gallery. It is located on a plateau in the Fergana Range at an altitude of about 3,000 meters. The petroglyphs on black rock date from the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. When planning, this allows you to distinguish a visit focused on rock art from Saimaly-Tash’s much longer history, without treating the information about the two sites as interchangeable.

Hiking and Horseback Riding Routes

Kazarman is part of the Kyrgyz Nomad Trail, a nationwide network of hiking trails connecting travelers with Kyrgyzstan’s natural and cultural heritage. A specific horseback riding or hiking route begins after a transfer from Kazarman to Nasan Bulak. The nearby village is also known for its small waterfall, which has a long series of cascades.

Other tours from Kazarman go to the Besh Kol Plateau and to five low-altitude mountain lakes. These are different types of destinations: a plateau on the one hand, and several lakes on the other. You can plan your excursions based on whether you would rather focus on the highland destination or the lake route.

Route 20 runs from Jalal-Abad through Kazarman to Lake Ak-Kel and is classified for travel on foot and on horseback. An older route description gives the season as June to mid-September, a total of 106 days. Check current road and trail conditions locally before using this time frame as the basis for your plans.

Getting There and Seasonal Travel Windows

Kazarman is a stopover on the long road trip from Osh to Lake Song-Kul, as well as on the way to the Tash Rabat caravanserai. One route to Song-Kul passes through Kazarman, Nasan Bulak, Bala Tapan, Kadu Pass, and Ashuu Tor. These routes make Kazarman a worthwhile stop both on a longer trip and for a stay with excursions to nearby destinations.

The road to Saimaluu-Tash is only usable for about one month each year, roughly from mid-July to mid-August; the first snow falls there in September. This short window applies to access to Saimaluu-Tash. Kazarman itself can be reached by bus or taxi from Jalal-Abad or the Naryn region. Check local access conditions before traveling to Saimaluu-Tash.

Discover more destinations: Dzhangi-Dzhol, Toktogul, Alash, Jalal-Abad.

Back to the main travel overview: Jalal-Abad.