Altai Republic Horse Trek, Russia

Overview

The Altai Republic is where Siberia stops being flat forest and becomes a mountain crossroads, its ranges running out towards the glaciated Tavan Bogd massif on the Russia-Mongolia-China tripoint. Horse trekking is how the Altai is meant to be travelled: sure-footed Altaian horses carry you over passes and flowered meadows into the Chulyshman valley, whose kilometre-deep canyon is breached by the Katu-Yaryk pass - a dirt shelf road plunging 800 vertical metres in hairpins that you will be glad to descend on four legs rather than four wheels. The valley floor leads past waterfalls and the ancient burial kurgans of the Pazyryk culture towards Lake Teletskoye, after Baikal the deepest lake in Siberia and sacred to the Altai people. July and August are the season, and even then mountain nights drop towards freezing and rain fronts sweep through fast, so pack for four seasons. Riding experience helps, but local guides pair novices with patient horses; camps are wild or at summer herders' stations. Twelve days from Gorno-Altaysk with horses, guide and food runs about £1,400 - though check current visa and travel practicalities for Russia carefully before planning.

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Prefilled for 1 July 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.