Adam Hiking Tours · Big Almaty Lake + Alma-Arasan
A small-group van drives you up to Big Almaty Lake for about an hour of viewpoints and photos, then down into the Alma-Arasan gorge for the hot springs and lunch. Pick it for the guides: with 235 reviews it is the best-rated car tour to the lake, and the eco-fee, lunch and snacks are already in the price.
Adam Hiking Tours is an Almaty outfit that runs both car trips and hikes into the Ile-Alatau mountains. On the car option the group leaves at 9 am, drives south up the Big Almaty gorge and, at the barrier where private cars stop, carries on in permit vehicles to the lake at 2,511 m. The listing gives about 60 minutes there: the viewpoints on the rocks above the water, the pyramid of Big Almaty Peak and the wall of Sovetov Peak behind. Nobody goes down to the shore. It is Almaty's drinking water, and that rule applies on every tour.
From the lake the van drops into the neighbouring Alma-Arasan gorge. A 20-minute walk along a forested river leads to the hot springs, where you get time to soak before lunch and the ride back. Guests are usually in town again around 2 pm, which leaves the afternoon free. Reviewers keep naming the guides (Viktor, Yorchin, Adam himself), and several mention the comfortable van and a group size they liked.
Know what the springs are before you go. The listing calls them a rustic outdoor bathing area, not a spa, with one cold pool, and they can be crowded. In summer 2026 rockfall and debris blocked the Alma-Arasan road for some groups; when that happens this operator swaps in the Ayusai visitor centre in the next gorge. From November to May the lake is usually frozen. The same listing also has a Monday-only guided hike of 14 km, for people with good fitness; see the Joinme Asia hike if you want to walk on other days.
Meet the guide at the meeting point for your option and board the van heading south into the mountains.
Passports out at the park checkpoint. At the barrier the group switches into the smaller permit cars for the last climb.
Time at the viewpoints above the water for photos of the lake and the peaks. The shore itself is off-limits.
Down in the Alma-Arasan gorge, a path follows a mountain river through the forest to the bathing area.
Time in the warm pools and the cold one, lunch, then the drive back to town.
★★★★★Comfortable van, great pacing of tour, big Almaty lake was gorgeous! Highly recommend following Adam tour!
★★★★★Viktor was amazing. Very Knowledgeable, knee about everything not just the place but whole of Almaty and Kazakhstan.
★★★★★Amazing Tour. The Lake was beautiful and the scenery near the hot springs. Our Guide Victor was great.
★★★★★Big thank you to our guide, Viktor! He was very knowledgeable and helpful. Group size was great as well.
Read next:
The listing says about 60 minutes at the lake for sightseeing and photos. That is the usual time on every car tour here, because the permit cars run on a schedule. If you want longer, walk up: the guided hike gives about four hours there.
No. The lake supplies Almaty's drinking water, and swimming, fishing and going down to the shore are banned, with guards who can fine you. The swimming on this tour happens later, in the Alma-Arasan hot springs.
The springs can close after rockfall or debris on the road, which guests reported several times in summer 2026. The listing says the tour then visits the Ayusai visitor centre in the neighbouring gorge instead.
The listing says the lake is usually frozen from November to May. You still see a white lake under snowy peaks, but not the turquoise water. For a winter-specific trip, look at the snow bike tour.
Ready to book
A permit car up to the lake, about an hour at the viewpoints, then the Alma-Arasan hot springs and lunch. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Big Almaty Lake Without Hiking + Hot SpringsThe cheapest car tour: a 6 am start, the lake before the crowds, then the Alma-Arasan springs and a meal.★ 4.6 · 4 hours · from $49
Big Almaty Lake by Car with Hotel PickupCollected at your hotel, a smaller car for the last climb, an hour at the lake, then Alma-Arasan in six hours.★ 5.0 · 6 hours · from $132
Big Almaty Lake by Car & Almarasan SpringsGuides in six languages, 8 am from the Abay Opera, the lake and the Almarasan springs, back by 1 pm.★ 4.2 · 5 hours · from $55