Explore the high-altitude alpine lake Song Kol on horseback with numerous shepherds’ yurts scattered all around the lake. Experience authentic nomadic culture while riding your horses from jailoo (high pasture) to jailoo and staying with shepherd families in remote meadows far off the beaten path. Enjoy homemade jam, fresh cream, bread still warm from the oven, and the best kymyz (fermented mare’s milk) around.
Highlights from the 3-days Horse Trek To Song Kol Lake include:
- Beautiful mountain vistas crossing high passes filled with grazing animals, endless peaks
- Stunning views of Song Kol Lake
- Diverse landscapes, from high attitude alpine lakes and vast valleys to lush green forests
- Sleeping in a traditional yurt where you’ll have an opportunity to meet Kyrgyz shepherds, learn about traditional nomadic culture, and enjoy hearty home-cooked meals
- A commitment to community tourism so that your tour will benefit local communities and families in the region
- Small Group Travel join other fellow travelers to share the price and make it more adventures
Destination: Song Kol Lake, Naryn region
Category: Horseback riding ( can be trekking )
Duration: 3 days, 2 nights
Physical Rating: Moderate (2 passes above 3300 m)
Service Level: Standard
Best season: June – September
Accommodation & meals: 2 nights in yurt camp, 2 lunches, 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts
Group size: from 1 to 7
Horse Trek Map
Brown line – transfer by car to start point from Kochkor village
Blue line – horse trek route
DAY 1: KOCHKOR VILLAGE – KYZART PASS – CHAAR – ARCHA PASS – KILEMCHE YURT CAMP
Transfer from Kochkor to Kyzart pass. Arrival at Kyzart pass, meet your guides team and horses and start the tour. Within sight of the road, cross Kyzyl-Kiya jailoo, an enormous, relatively flat sea of grass. Continue over the Chaar-Archa Pass (3 061 m) into the Chaar-Archa Valley and eat a tasty lunch by the racing river, with views of holy 4400 m Baba-Ata Mountain. Ford the river and follow the trail over verdant hills to Kilemche Jailoo. The name means “like a carpet,” and this swathe of grass covers whole mountain ranges, with shadings as subtle as any shyrdak (shyrdak is a Kyrgyz felt carpet). Dine and sleep in a yurt. Riding time: 5 hours
DAY 2: KILEMCHE YURT CAMP – SONG KOL LAKE – TUZ ASHUU YURT CAMP
After breakfast at Kilemche, spend the morning climbing to Jalgyz Karagai pass (3400 m), over the Song-Kol Mountains, and into the lake’s basin. The rocky and spectacular climb affords wonderful views of Kilemche jailoo. From the pass, Song-Kol is still distant, but as you traipse down the slopes, it gets larger and larger; the mountains on the other side get higher and higher until finally, the lake fills most of your field of view, and the southern mountains tower above it. Upon arrival meet your host family of Kyrgyz shepherds. Meals and overnight are in Shepherd’s yurt.
Riding time: 5 hours.
DAY 3: TUZ ASHUU – BATAI ARAL – KOCHKOR VILLAGE
Breakfast. Watching and/or participating in the everyday life of shepherds: milking mares; making national milk products like kymyz (a fermented mare’s milk) or airan (a sour dense milk product); tending cattle. After following the lakeshore east to the Batai Aral 2-3 hours riding. Arrive and eat a delicious lunch here. Afternoon transfer to Kochkor village, 3 hours.
Price of 3-days Horseback Tour to Song Kol Lake
| Number of people | 1 | 2 | 3-5 | 6-7 | 8-9 |
| Price per person in USD | 570 | 390 | 350 | 320 | 290 |
Included:
2-nights in yurt with breakfast and dinner
3-lunches
Transport from/to Kochkor city
English Speaking Horse Guide
Horses
Not included:
Hotel and meals in Kochkor city
Bottled water
Insurance
Tips
Horse riding gear as helmets
Join the following groups for summer 2025
If the following dates do not suit your travel plans, please contact us by email or WhatsApp. We will post a new tour with your dates and try to collect more people to join you to share the costs. Or you can check out our other Kyrgyzstan group tours.
Horseback Tour to Song Kol Lake Photo Gallery
Reviews of our Horse Trek Tours
We had a wonderful guide and two horsemen during our trip. We had very little (essentially zero) horseback riding experience and the terrain was rugged sometimes, with steep drop-offs. I have a fear of heights, but was ok on the horse.
The journey itself is beautiful. More parts of it than I thought had no obvious trail – you are going over grass or stones. There were two about 10-11,000 ft passes that we went over.
The yurts were all great. Typically only one yurt for guests and a resident family that was authentically living the herding lifestyle.
Food was great and appropriate. Bathrooms were surprisingly clean. We didn’t see any other tourists on our trip.
It was a mind blowing experience and one of the best times of my life. Timur as my guide was fantastic and outstanding. He took us through some amazing landscapes with breathtaking views. Thanks to him, I took back some cherished memories for a life time
I will highly recommend this trek and Timur to any one who wants to do something different in their travels.
Trust me, you are missing something if you don’t do this
FAQ: Practical Information about Horse Treks in Kyrgyzstan
Yes, most of our horse treks are beginner-friendly. Our local horse guides will match you with a calm, gentle horse and making sure you feel comfortable with it. Before heading out, you’ll get basic instructions on how to manage, guide and control the horse. We’ll adjust your saddle and stirrups so you feel comfortable and secure.
The pace of our horse treks is generally walk-only or light trot so there is no crazy galloping. In addition, our horse guides will assist you with any challenging assents or descents. That way you can focus on enjoying the scenery and the ride.
You’ll want to dress similarly for a horse trek as to how you would for a hike or trek on foot, with a few considerations for riding comfort. It actually feels a bit colder riding a horse than hiking because you’re not generating as much body heat, so bring warm layers even if the day is mild.
Wear long pants (jeans or durable trekking pants) to protect your legs from friction against the saddle. On your upper body, dress in layers – a t-shirt or light long-sleeve, plus a fleece or light jacket you can put on when it’s cooler. A rain jacket or poncho is important too as weather can change quickly in the mountains. Sturdy shoes or lightweight boots with a small heel are ideal. Hiking boots are good. Just avoid completely flat sandals or open-toed shoes for safety in the stirrups. We provide basic riding gear, but we recommend bringing some light gloves to help prevent blisters from holding the reins.
In summary, the best way to prepare for a horse trek is to dress warm, cover up from sun and chafing, and be ready for mountain weather. Our team will brief you on what to bring specific to your route as well.
Western riders often ask about helmets. In Kyrgyzstan, locals typically don’t use riding helmets, and we do not automatically provide them. If a helmet is important to you, please bring a lightweight equestrian helmet or we can try to source one with advance notice.
Our priority is safety and the well-being of the horses and riders, so fast galloping is generally not part of our horse treks. Many of the areas where we ride are narrow mountain trails, steep slopes, and rocky terrain. It’s simply not safe or feasible to go faster than a walking pace or gentle trot on these mountain terrains. The horses need to navigate carefully to avoid injury.
Toward the end of a day or on certain flat stretches where the terrain is open and safe, our guides may allow an experienced rider to do a short canter or gallop for fun. This is always at the guide’s discretion. Keep in mind these horses are working at high altitude and on tough paths, so we don’t want to exhaust them with a lot of fast riding or galloping. We ask guests to be understanding and gentle with the animals.
Expect a leisurely pace on our horse treks so that you can take in the scenery and experience. The joy of horse trekking here is less about speed and more about reaching beautiful remote places on horseback, like alpine lakes or jailoo (high altitude) pastures, which would be arduous or take a long time to reach on foot.
Yes, we can arrange short horseback riding excursions as well. We understand that everyone might now have time for a multi-day trek or that they just want a taste of horseback riding in Kyrgyzstan for a couple of hours.These are often included as side activities on one of our cultural tours. For example, we could add a horseback riding trip outside of Karakol or at Song-Kul Lake for the day.
For any custom short horseback riding trip, just contact us and we’ll see if we can add it to your itinerary.
We recommend the following packing list for a horse trek.
- Warm clothes and layers as it gets warm during the day, but can go below freezing at night and when it rains
- Good trekking shoes • Day pack to carry camera, water, sunscreen, etc.
- Sun protection as the sun is very strong at altitude: Sunglasses, sunscreen (SPF 30 or above), and a sun hat /cap
- Water and windproof jacket and pants. It gets especially windy on the mountain passes
- Medical kit for treating blisters, traveler’s diarrhea and other minor illnesses.
- Water purification tablets or drops if you want to clean the spring water
- Refillable water bottle • Lip balm: your lips get chapped very easily in the mountains
- Wet wipes and/or anti-bacterial gel to clean hands
- Hat and gloves to wear at night for warmth
- Head lamp to navigate campsite and yurt camps at night
- Warm sleeping bag (we provide you with this if you don’t have one). Yurts and homestays provide blankets.