Bozzhyra Tract and the Ustyurt Plateau

Chalk And Sandstone Fangs, Spires And A Long White And Pink Cliff Line Dropping From The Ustyurt Plateau Into The Desert, The Best Known Landscape Of Mangystau. The Ustyurt State Nature Reserve Lies Nearby; The Plateau Is On Kazakhstan'S Tentative World Heritage List. · Zhetybai, Mangystau

Bozzhyra is the best known landscape of Mangystau: a long wall of white chalk and pink sandstone fangs, spires and gullies where the Ustyurt Plateau drops into the desert. From the rim you look down on a floor of cracked clay and sand, with the cliff line running off to both sides and changing colour with the sun. The Ustyurt State Nature Reserve lies nearby and the plateau is on Kazakhstan's tentative World Heritage list. Be honest about the effort. It is about 250 km from Aktau by gravel and track, so you need a 4WD with a driver who knows the ground, and most people do it as part of a two- or three-day desert circuit with a night of camping. There is no water, no shop and usually no phone signal at the tract. Most visitors come for sunrise or sunset and the stars after dark, not for a quick look. Summer heat is severe, winter is bitterly cold, and spring rain can turn the tracks to mud. Come prepared and treat it as an expedition.

White-chalk badlands on the Ustyurt Plateau in the Mangystau desert, about 250 km from Aktau by gravel and track; reached only by 4WD with a driver, and often camped overnight, Zhetybai, Mangystau, Kazakhstan

There are no gates or opening hours. Bozzhyra is open desert, reached by track, and you can be there at any hour of day or night, so timing depends on your driver and the light. Most groups arrive in the late afternoon, camp near the rim or on the plain, and stay for sunset, the night sky and sunrise before driving on. Daylight is short in winter and the tracks are slower after rain or snow. There is no ticket office and no staff on site. Confirm the route and conditions with your driver before leaving Aktau.

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