Home / Tours / Winter Horse Trek to Song-Kul - 3 Days
Winter Horse Trek to Song-Kul - 3 Days
Our one winter trip, from November to April. Ride from Kyzart through the snow to Kilemche, cross the Tuz-Ashuu pass to a frozen Song-Kul, and ride back the next day. One night in a winter homestay and one in a warm yurt.
Why you'll love this tour
Good to know
- Accommodation: 1 night at winter homestay, 1 night at yurt
- Activities: horse riding - 3 days
- Departures from: Kyzart
- Best time to go: November to April
- Local certified English-speaking guide
- Private transport & airport transfers
- Small group or fully private
- 24/7 support team in Bishkek
What to pack
- Thermal base layers, top and bottom, to stay warm in deep cold
- An insulated hat and warm, waterproof gloves
- Heavy socks and warm, waterproof boots for snow
- Sunglasses and sunscreen: snow doubles the high-altitude glare
- A power bank, since the cold drains phone batteries fast
Full packing list and arrival tips: Easy from abroad: visas, arrival and logistics
Before you go
- Visa: most Western and East-Asian passports enter visa-free for up to 30 days within any 60-day period (the rule changed at the end of 2025), so check your own nationality on evisa.e-gov.kg
- Money: the local currency is the Kyrgyz som; carry cash for villages and camps, as card payments mostly work only in towns
- Connectivity: mobile data is decent in towns, but there is usually no signal at high mountain yurt camps, so let people know you may be offline
- Winter weather can change the day's plan; your guide adjusts the route for snow and road conditions
- Drinking water: stick to bottled or boiled water, and bring enough for stretches where none is available
Read before you go: Staying in a yurt: nomad culture & etiquette · When is the best time to visit Kyrgyzstan?
Day-by-day itinerary
Tap any day to expand. Every itinerary can be tailored to your dates, pace and fitness.
The ride begins in Kyzart, where your guide fits you to your horse and covers the basics before you head out, no riding experience needed. You follow a riverside trail across a winter landscape, the Chaar-Archa River frozen along its banks and the hills dusted white and quiet.
A picnic stop near the river breaks up the morning, then you ride on through gentle terrain to Kilemche Valley. There a Kyrgyz family welcomes you into their winter home for hot tea, dinner, and a warm bed, the kind of hospitality that means the most when the cold sets in outside.
This is the hardest day. You climb toward the Tuz-Ashuu Pass at 3300 m through deep snow, and there may be stretches where you dismount and lead your horse on foot to get through. It's real winter mountain work, but the reward at the top is the sight of Song-Kul locked in ice, white from shore to shore.
From the pass you drop down to a yurt camp, where hot tea and lunch are waiting. The afternoon is free to rest by the stove or walk out onto the frozen lake. Dinner and the night are spent in the yurt, well wrapped against the cold.
After breakfast you retrace your route back over the Tuz-Ashuu Pass. The trail looks different in the morning light, white valleys, empty winter slopes, and the same quiet that makes this season special. You arrive in Kyzart Village by afternoon, where a warm welcome and a hot homemade lunch round off the trip.
Sights visited on this tour
Song-Kul Lake
A high alpine lake ringed by summer yurt camps and grazing horses.
Kyzart
A quiet farming village and trailhead for the horse route to Song-Kul.Gallery
Common questions
It runs 3 days, starting and ending in Kyzart.
The season runs November to April. June to September brings the warmest days, and the high-pasture yurt camps are open.
It's moderately paced, with 3 days horse riding. Good general fitness is enough, and there is no technical climbing.
No. Our guides match each horse to your level and keep the first day gentle, so complete beginners ride this route every season.
A mix over the trip: 1 night at winter homestay, 1 night at yurt.
Tell us about your trip
Tell us your dates and we'll confirm availability and a tailored price within 24 hours. Free to enquire, no prepayment.
Enquiry received!
A local expert will email you within 24 hours about “Winter Horse Trek to Song-Kul - 3 Days”.
Other tours you might like
Horse riding3 daysSong-Kul Horse Trek - 3 Days
- Kyzart to Kilemche on the first day
- Over the Jalgyz-Karagai pass to Song-Kul
- Two nights in yurts
Horse riding3 daysSong-Kul Two-Pass Loop on Horseback - 3 Days
- Two different passes at 3,400 meters, no backtracking
- A night with herders in a shepherd's house in Kilemche
- A yurt on the Song-Kul shore with the Milky Way above
Horse riding4 daysSong-Kul Shoreline Horse Trek - 4 Days
- Four days of riding, no driving
- Over the Jalgyz-Karagai pass to Song-Kul
- A day along the shore to the western end