Issyk-Ata Zone is located 80 km from Bishkek and includes two gorges — Issyk-Ata and Tuyuk Issyk-Ata with tributaries. This zone is distinguished not only by its favorable climatic conditions but also by its magnificent balneological resources. Based on more than fifty thermal springs, the famous Issyk-Ata resort operates in the middle part of the gorge of the same name. The springs have been known since ancient times, as evidenced by the image of the healing Buddha carved on Asal.
At the entrance to the main gorge, on the right, the last and one of the largest tributaries — Tuyuk (dead end) flows into the Issyk-Ata River, running in a large and beautiful gorge of the same name. Above the forestry border, the slopes and bottom of the gorge are covered with slender Tien Shan firs. The Tuyuk Issyk-Ata River receives two tributaries: on the right — Karagaylybulak and on the left — Kek-Moynok, flowing in the gorges of the same name. In the upper reaches, these gorges are connected by the Kek-Moynok Pass (3300 m), located in the alpine zone near the beautiful lake of the same name.
At its beginning, the slopes of the Issyk-Ata gorge and the riverbed are covered with thickets of sea buckthorn, barberry, and wolfberry, and at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level, picturesque juniper forests with isolated firs. Above 2800 m, there are juniper thickets and alpine meadows. Surrounded by high slopes and rocks, the gorge looks majestic and beautiful in all seasons. In some places, thickets of tall junipers create the impression of a fir forest.
The river winds between the stones. The water flow rises in myriads of cool splashes over steep rapids. In the upper reaches, the river is surrounded by a chaotic jumble of wild multicolored rocks, some smooth and some porous, covered with red lichens. The mountain path, after overcoming three long ascents, leads to a wide ridge, and then rises along a snowfield to the Issyk-Ata Pass.
In the rocks of the alpine belt and near the ridges, where argalis and ibexes abound, lives their fiercest enemy — the snow leopard, which does not descend below 3000 meters. Dressed in a solid golden fur coat with rounded black spots, the snow leopard is very beautiful and graceful. At the same time, it is a very strong, fierce, agile, and bloodthirsty predator, possessing long claws and sharp fangs. Its jumps can reach ten meters in length and three meters in height; it skillfully climbs trees and can swim across rivers; it is almost impossible to train — it has a nasty and gloomy temperament, preferring silence and solitude. The leopard is the master of the highlands. There are no animals stronger than it here. It only recognizes fresh meat and never returns to its prey. Therefore, vultures often circle over its feast to pick up the remains.
In the high-altitude zone, tourists have a rare opportunity to get acquainted with many species of birds of prey, which make up more than 80 percent of the species in the republic compared to the total number of species in the country. One can spend hours watching the huge birds circling in the blue sky. Their eyesight is so sharp that they can see even small rodents from an invisible height over an area of tens of square kilometers.
Above the middle part of the gorge, the rocky peak Botvey (4000 m) rises as an impregnable guard. The upper zone is capped by the trapezoidal peak Lesgaft (4590 m). Powerful glaciers can be seen on the slopes of the high peaks, giving rise to numerous streams. From the Tuyuk (4080 m), Issyk-Ata (3929 m), and other passes, led by the harsh rocky and glaciated peak of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan (4481 m), paths lead to the southern slopes of the ridge into the valleys of the Tuyuk Southern, Issyk-Ata Southern rivers, and the neighboring gorges of Alamedin and Kegety.
In this zone, one can undertake fascinating hiking excursions to high-altitude moraine-glacial lakes: Kek-Moynok, located in Tuyuk Issyk-Ata; Protsenko — near the glacier of the same name in the upper reaches of Issyk-Ata. Like bowls of milk-colored water tinged with turquoise, they spread among an endless jumble of rocks.
There are many waterfalls, which are relatively close to the resort and easily accessible even for inexperienced tourists. Among them are the most diverse: Tuyuksky — located in the picturesque forested gorge of Tuyuk Issyk-Ata 3 km above the forestry border; Marble — the most beautiful ten-meter waterfall, squeezed in the narrow gorge of the right tributary of the Issyk-Ata River 1.5 km upstream from the resort; Bala-Partak — a 12 m high waterfall in a narrow gorge 4 km from the resort on the right tributary of the Issyk-Ata River; the cascade of waterfalls Jaryk-Tash (split stone) in the narrow gorge of the left tributary of the Issyk-Ata River 11 km upstream from the resort. One can stand for hours, enchanted, watching the turquoise stream of water beating against the colorful stone boulders. A continuous ribbon of water, sometimes breaking apart, forms a fantastically beautiful living garland of crystal splashes.
On the territory of the zone, there is a hunting economy where licensed shooting of certain birds and animals, mainly partridges and ibexes, is carried out. In certain sections of the Issyk-Ata River, trout fishing can be organized with licenses.
