The Ustyurt Nature Reserve protects 223,342 hectares in the south-west of the plateau: the western chink, the Kendirli-sor salt marsh, part of the Karynzharyk depression and Mount Karamaya — one of Mangystau's most remote protected areas.
The Ustyurt State Nature Reserve lies in the south-western part of the plateau that gives it its name, within the Aral-Caspian watershed, inside the Karakiyan district of the Mangystau region. It covers part of the plateau's western chink (escarpment), a narrow strip along the rim, and the vast Kendirli-sor depression.
The protected area totals 223,342 hectares. It includes the southern section of the Western Ustyurt chink — from the Mametkazgan well in the north-west to the Kyzylsai tract in the south — the adjoining rim strip of the plateau, the eastern part of the Karynzharyk depression with the Kendirli-sor salt marsh, fragments of the Karynzharyk sand massif, and Mount Karamaya.
The reserve's highest point lies on the Western Ustyurt chink, near the Kugusem well.
Honest numbers before you take the wheel. We are not selling an adventure — we are explaining what you would be dealing with.
Driving here yourself requires four-wheel drive and a water supply: there are no fuel stations or services on the route.
Shots from our trips — click to enlarge
Leave the logistics to people who drive here all year round: prepared vehicles, satellite communication and a guide who knows where the ground holds and where it does not.
Karagiye → Onere (spring) → Karynzharyk and 24 more stops
The Valley of the Stone Balls → Kok-Kala → Samal Gorge and 15 more stops
Karagiye → Kyzylkup → Boszhira (upper plateau) and 19 more stops