Song-Kul lake lies at 3,016 m on a wide plateau in the Naryn region, about 29 km long and ringed by grassy hills. Nobody lives here in winter. From June to early September herding families bring their horses, sheep and yaks up to the summer pastures and set up yurts along the shore, and some of them host travelers.
When to go to Song-Kul lake
The yurt camps stand from about mid-June to early September. July and August are the warmest and greenest months; June and September are quieter, with cold nights and sometimes snow. Read our month-by-month guide before you choose dates.
How to get there
Most travelers come from Kochkor, about four hours from Bishkek. From Kochkor it is around three hours by car over a mountain pass, or two to three days on horseback over the Jalgyz-Karagai pass on our Song-Kul horse trek. Roads to the lake are unpaved and close in bad weather.
Staying in a yurt
Yurts have felt walls, a stove and mattresses on the floor. Meals are cooked by the host family: bread, soups, plov, dairy and tea, and kymyz (fermented mare’s milk) to try. There are no showers and toilets are simple outdoor huts. Bring warm clothes: nights are cold even in July.
Things to do at Song-Kul
- Ride with herders across the pastures above the lake.
- Walk the shore at sunrise and sunset, when the light is best.
- Watch mares being milked and kymyz being made.
- Spend a slow day: the lake is about space and silence more than sights.
For a full week of yurt life, see our Kyrgyzstan nomad tour.
