Kyrgyzstan
Konorchek Canyon
Two-million-year-old sandstone castles hiding a dead volcano between Bishkek and the lake.
Sandstone columns rise thirty metres from the canyon floor like the ramparts of a city that never existed. Konorchek Canyon in Kyrgyzstan's Chüy region is dry, windswept, and utterly devoid of shade — two million years of erosion sculpted into towers, arches, and hoodoos that glow copper and ochre in the afternoon sun. Somewhere in the middle of it all, the eroded crater of a dead volcano sits like a punchline the landscape has been building toward.
Konorchek Canyon is a geological anomaly positioned between Bishkek and Issyk-Kul, roughly two hours' drive from the capital. Its sandstone formations date back approximately two million years and include freestanding columns, natural arches, and layered cliff faces shaped by wind and occasional flash flooding. A dead volcano sits within the canyon system — its eroded crater walkable on foot, recognisable by the change in rock colour and texture. The 8-kilometre circuit through the main canyon can be completed without a guide on a reasonably clear trail, making it one of Kyrgyzstan's more accessible wilderness landscapes.
Couple
The canyon is empty, the light is theatrical, and no one else is there. Pack cold plov in lavash, find a sandstone overhang, and eat lunch in a landscape that looks like it belongs on another planet.
Friends
An easy day trip from Bishkek that feels disproportionately wild for the effort involved. The 8-kilometre loop is perfect for a group that wants to explore without committing to a multi-day trek — and the dead volcano provides genuine bragging rights.
- The canyon's sandstone formations are 2 million years old and include columns up to 30 metres tall.
- A dead volcano sits within the canyon system — its eroded crater can be walked across on foot.
- The 8km circuit through the canyon can be completed without a guide on a reasonably clear path.
- The site is 2 hours from Bishkek and positioned between the capital and Issyk-Kul — easy to include in a drive-through itinerary.
Pack a lunch from Bishkek — there is nothing out here but wind and rock.
Cold plov wrapped in lavash, eaten in the shade of a sandstone overhang.
Carretera Austral
Chile
A thousand kilometres of gravel threading glaciers, fjords, and forests with almost no one on it.
Knoydart Peninsula
Scotland
No road reaches this peninsula — you arrive by boat or not at all.
Lençóis Maranhenses
Brazil
Thousands of rain-filled lagoons between white dunes stretching to the horizon like another planet.
Dunas de Tatón
Argentina
Sand dunes rise over a thousand metres at the foot of the Andes where nobody goes.
Alay Valley
Kyrgyzstan
A high corridor beneath a 7,134-metre wall of ice, nomad herds drifting across the plateau.
Sary-Tash
Kyrgyzstan
A wind-battered crossroads at 3,200 metres where the road to China meets the road to Tajikistan.
Köl-Tör
Kyrgyzstan
An emerald lake cupped in glacier-scarred rock, reached through a narrow slot canyon on foot.
Altyn-Arashan
Kyrgyzstan
Sulphurous hot pools steaming between spruce trees at 2,400 metres, snow leopard territory above.