Kara-Suu
The "Kara-Suu" Zone is located in the eastern part of the southern slope of the Chatkal Ridge and occupies the valley of the river of the same name. In the lower reaches of the river, semi-deserts with sparse forests of pistachio and almond trees are widely represented. South of the city of Tash-Kumyr is the botanical reserve of Dzhiel-Tiibes, covering an area of 800 hectares, where a reference section of the southern semi-desert is protected. Below Tash-Kumyr is a Paleogene group of thermal springs with a temperature of 25 degrees, which are used by the local population.
Above, mountain steppes with thickets of shrubs such as wild rose, honeysuckle, barberry, hawthorn, and others spread out. In spring and early summer, turtles are found here in large numbers.
On the left bank in the mountainous areas, nut-fruit forests are represented. Maple forests are also found. In some places, they form large masses, covering more than 40,000 hectares in the Fergana and Chatkal ridges.
In the lower and middle reaches, the Kara-Suu River receives only left tributaries such as Ak-Dzhot, Turduk, Mal-Kaldy, and others, with a height difference of up to 75 meters per kilometer of tributary length.
Approximately 35-40 km from the watershed of the Chatkal Ridge, the valley of the Kara-Suu River narrows sharply and takes the form of a deep rocky gorge. Steep terraces covered in some places with white scree descend from Mount Myntake to the riverbed. This part of the valley is rightly considered the most beautiful place in the zone due to the brightness of the colors of the floodplain vegetation and the emerald green of the surrounding mountain slopes.
In the fertile mid-mountain meadow-forest belt, where in ancient times a huge landslide up to 200 meters high dammed the river, lies Lake Kara-Suu (or Karakamysh, or Kara-Suu-Bashikel). Its length is about 1.5 km, width up to 500 m, and the water surface elevation is 1870 m above sea level. On its shores, the slender bright green firs of Semenov stand out sharply against the multicolored lakeside nature. Tian Shan spruces are less common.
Two kilometers from Lake Kara-Suu, at an altitude of 1700 m, there is another lake. The Kara-Suu River flows calmly from it across the surface of the landslide among green shady banks overgrown with spruces, maples, birches, as well as various shrubs and thickets of yellowish eremurus. Above Lake Kara-Suu, the valley of the river opens up, and its bottom appears as a wide glade formed by the delta deposits of the river, covered with rich meadow vegetation and sparse forests of birches and spruces. About 7-8 km up the gorge, the right slopes separating the Kara-Suu gorge from the Khoja-Ata gorge become somewhat gentler. Here are low passes leading to Lake Sary-Chelek. The most accessible of them is the Makmal Pass (2700 m). In the upper reaches of the Kara-Suu gorge, truly grand views open up onto the steep towers of the watershed part of the Chatkal Ridge, where the highest peaks covered with snow are located.
At an altitude of 2200 m in Kyzyl-Suu (the name of the Kara-Suu River in its upper reaches), its left tributary Kashka-Suu flows in, at the upper reaches of which is the pass of the same name (3525 m), leading into the gorge of the Kashka-Suu River in the North. The part of this gorge located below the pass is covered with snow, alternating with brightly green alpine meadows and picturesque rocky outcrops.
On the ridge of the Chatkal Ridge, there are passes Ak-Suu (3450 m), Kokuybel (3036 m), Chiyim-Tash (3575 m), and Ak-Tash (3461 m). From them, majestic panoramas of the surrounding rocky peaks open up. The most beautiful of them is the Castle of Fairy Tales (4200 m).
The objects for short excursions can include the picturesque weathering pillars "Kara-Dzhigach" and other attractions of the "Sary-Chelek" zone. From the zone, one can take an excursion to the archaeological site - the grotto "Tash-Kumyr," which is located on the steep bank of the Kara-Suu River at a height of 30-35 m above the water level, not far from where it flows into the Naryn River, 1.5 km from the city of Tash-Kumyr; to the ancient settlement of Kyzyl-Dzhар (I-IV centuries AD), where a defensive wall has been excavated, and to a hydrogen sulfide mineral spring with a temperature of 22 degrees from a well about 10 m deep, located in the territory of the village of Kyzyl-Dzhар to the southwest of the city of Tash-Kumyr.
