Gorkhi-Terelj National Park ( mn, Горхи-Тэрэлж , ''creek-rhododendron'') is one of the national parks of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

. The Terelj tourist zone has a number of "tourist camps" ( mn, жуулчны бааз, ''juulchny baaz''). It is connected with

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

by a paved road (main road to the East #A0501

Baganuur 8Baganuur ( mn, Багануур, , ''Little Lake'') is one of nine düüregs (districts) of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. It is subdivided into six khoroos (subdistricts). Baganuur is a distanced district, located as an exclave of on th ...

Öndörkhaan Öndörkhaan ( mn, Өндөрхаан; ; sometimes Undurkhaan), is a town in Mongolia located 290 km east of Ulaanbaatar. On November 18, 2013, the city was renamed to Chinggis City in honor of Genghis Khan, who was born and possibly buried i ...

direction, 37 km from Ulaanbaatar city center, left turn to the branch #A24, 5 km later road crosses

Tuul River , , "to wade through" , nickname = Queen Tuul , image = Tuul River Mongolia.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Tuul flowing through the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park , map = Toula (riv ...

and the National park territory begins). The road comes to the Gorkhiin Davaa ( mn, Горхийн даваа) pass. Most of the tourist camps and tourist attractions are before this pass. The road then ends at the settlement of Terelj, which features small shops and restaurants. The Terelj settlement is located in the valley of the Terelj River (''Terelj Gol''), approximately 66 km from the Ulaanbaatar city center. The national park tourist zone is formally in

Nalaikh Nalaikh () is one of nine Düüregs (districts) of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. It is subdivided into 8 Khoroo A khoroo ( mn, хороо) is an administrative subdivision of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The term is often transl ...

düüreg Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north c ...

(district) part of Ulaanbaatar municipality, the rest of the protected zone beginning to the north of the Terelj River, is located in Mongolia's

Töv Province Töv ( mn, Төв, , ; "central") is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. The national capital Ulaanbaatar is located roughly at its center, but the city itself is administrated as an independent municipality. Geography The Aimag inc ...

(''Töv aimag''). A small southern portion of the park is developed for tourists, with restaurants, souvenir shops, horses and camels for rent, and tourist ger camps, many of them run by the Juulchin corporation, the former state tourism company. However, most of the park is undeveloped and difficult to access. Attractions include Khagiin Khar Lake, a 20 m deep glacial lake 80 km upstream from the tourist camps, and Yestii Hot Water Springs, natural hot springs 18 km further upstream. The park also has a Buddhist monastery that is open to visitors. Park wildlife includes brown bears and over 250 species of birds. The

flows through the park. The park has many rock formations for rock climbers, and includes two famous formations named for things they resemble: Turtle Rock (Mongolian: ''Melkhii Khad'') and the Old Man Reading a Book (Praying Lama Rock). Many Westerners were introduced to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park when the CBS reality television program ''The Amazing Race'' visited the park in the second episode of its tenth season.

References

External links

*Touris
review
of the park
MSNBC Travel article
about the park

about the park *Official ''The Amazing Race'
website
recapping the show's visit to Terelj
Map of Park Boundaries, OpenStreetMap.org
National parks of Mongolia {{Asia-protected-area-stub

See also

References

External links