Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

Rock FormationsTöv,Mongolia

Granite boulders the size of houses rising out of open steppe, at the edge of the range Mongolians hold as the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan.

September·Edge of season

Sep–Oct

The air turns crisp and clear above the granite tors, the nights already freeze, and the ger camps begin closing for the winter.

Year-round The house-sized granite tors, Turtle Rock and the Tuul valley are here year-round. In summer the meadows are green and the ger camps fill up; in autumn the larches turn gold.

Gorkhi-Terelj is a national park an hour and a half east of Ulaanbaatar, in Mongolia, where granite boulders big enough to climb stand out of open steppe along the Tuul River. No river or sea shaped them. They are the bones of a granite mass rotting in place. Water gets into the cracks, freezes on Mongolia's bitter nights and levers the rock apart block by block; over millions of years the edges round off, leaving tors that people read as a turtle, a camel, a praying lama. The way to meet the country around them is from a saddle. Herding families ride out with you on stocky Mongolian horses, letting the animals pick their own line through the river, with cold spray coming up at the crossings. The slower version is a wooden ox cart behind the cattle. In camp you watch the milking, and every guest is handed a bowl of salty milk tea. A scramble up any outcrop opens the whole valley beneath you: green meadows, scattered white gers and dark ridges of larch. On the hillside above, 108 stone steps laid out to trace the curl of an elephant's trunk climb to Aryapala, a Buddhist temple built in the shape of an elephant's head, with prayer wheels and painted riddles along the path. Nights are spent in gers tucked against the granite, which holds the last of the day's warmth while the stove ticks down to nothing by dawn. With no city glow for an hour in any direction, the stars come out thick over the rocks. Behind all this lies the Khan Khentii, strictly protected and mostly closed, where the Siberian forest meets the steppe and brown bears and wolves still live. Terelj is as far into that country as most people ever get. The road in from the capital passes a Chinggis Khaan on horseback, forty metres of stainless steel, with a stair inside the horse that comes out level with the rider's face. He is looking east, at the mountains where he was born and where you are not going.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Come in June for green and quiet or September for gold — July fills the valley with ger camps at the highest prices, while late May and October risk hard frost and snow.
A paved road reaches the main valley from Ulaanbaatar in about ninety minutes, but the hot springs, back lakes and quiet side glens need a Russian van or a horse.
Tour buses from the city fill the main valley around midday — visit Turtle Rock and the Aryapala temple early or late and you may have the granite almost to yourself.
The sky here is dark enough for the naked-eye Milky Way — pick nights near the new moon and let your eyes adjust away from the ger camp's lamps.
Even in July nights drop near 5°C, and by September they freeze — a ger's wood stove usually dies before dawn, so pack a warm layer for sleeping.

Things to do

1
Ride out with a herding family, by horse or ox cart
Swing up onto a stocky Mongolian horse and ride out across the open grassland the way local herders do, letting the animal pick its own line through the Tuul River. Cold spray flies up at the crossings, and from the saddle the granite hills and larch stands slide past at a walk or a canter. The slower version is a wooden ox cart, the transport that has moved gers and belongings across Mongolia for centuries, creaking along the river shingle behind the cattle. Spend an afternoon in camp either way and you can watch the animals milked, help move the herd, and drink the salty milk tea offered to every guest.
2
Hike up to a granite viewpoint over the valley
Scramble up one of the weathered granite outcrops that stud the valley and the whole of Terelj opens beneath you — green meadows, scattered white gers and dark ridges of larch running to the horizon. The climb is short but the rock is loose in places, so sturdy shoes help; the reward is the park's best free panorama.
3
Sleep out beneath the granite tors and stars
Spend the night in a camp tucked against the granite, where the tors hold the last of the day's warmth and the wood stove ticks down to nothing by dawn. With the nearest city glow an hour away, the sky fills with stars, and on clear moonless nights a bright band of the Milky Way arcs straight over the rocks.
4
Climb to the Aryapala meditation temple
Follow the 108 stone steps — laid out to trace an elephant's curling trunk — up the hillside to Aryapala, a small Buddhist temple built in the shape of an elephant's head. Prayer wheels and painted riddles line the path, and from the terrace at the top the whole Terelj valley spreads out below you.