Burabay: Glamping in Kazakhstan's Oasis in the Steppe

Most of northern Kazakhstan is steppe — flat, vast, and stretching to the horizon in every direction. Then, near the city of Kokshetau, the land just breaks open into pine forest, granite mountains, and a string of clear lakes. That's Burabay — known locally as Borovoe — and it's unlike anywhere else in the country.

There's an old local legend about how Burabay came to be: the story goes that everyone else got their mountains, lakes, and canyons, and the people of the steppe were left with flat land — until they were given this one small pocket of forest and granite as their own piece of it. Whether or not you buy the legend, standing in the middle of it, the "why here" question answers itself.

This place is personal for our family. One of us was brought to Borovoe as a four-year-old to recover and get stronger, and that early connection never really faded. Coming back as an adult, with our own kids in tow, felt like completing a loop.

Standing in the middle of Burabay, the "why here" question answers itself — a pocket of forest and granite dropped into the middle of a steppe that stretches flat in every other direction.

A rough start, weather-wise

Our first attempt at this trip landed us in Burabay during a cold, windy, rain-soaked stretch — the kind of weather where everyone on the lakeside paths is bundled in ponchos, hunched against the wind. We got a couple of days of sightseeing in and then made the call to leave and try again later, rather than force a glamping trip in five straight days of forecasted rain. A month later, we came back to Nur-Sultan-adjacent weather that had finally turned, and Burabay was a completely different place in the sun.

Glamping at Burabay Marina Yacht Club

On short notice, we booked a spot at Burabay Marina Yacht Club (sometimes called Burabay Marina Club), a designated glamping and camping area inside the national park. For anyone unfamiliar with the term: glamping is glamorous camping — you still get a lake, a forest, and a fire, but with a heated bed and real walls instead of a tent floor.

Our cabin came with a bed, heated flooring, and shared access to a public kitchen, bathroom, and sink nearby — no frills beyond that, and we ended up improvising camp coffee with what we had rather than borrowed mugs and spoons, since the site doesn't rent kitchenware. We also noticed a fair number of camper trailers parked around the grounds, which surprised us — overlanding and RV-style camping isn't common in Kazakhstan, but Burabay seems to be where it concentrates.

Into the enchanted forest

As the sun dropped, we laced up and walked straight into the pine forest bordering the campground — and "enchanted" is genuinely the word that comes to mind, not just marketing language. Twisted pines, moss-covered granite boulders, and the kind of quiet that makes you lower your voice without meaning to.

From our site, we had walking access to three separate trailheads: one toward a rock formation that (very loosely) resembles the Hollywood sign, one down to the lake, and one that climbs the mountain behind the campground. We just crossed the road and were on the trail — no shuttle, no drive required.

Climbing toward the highest peak in the north

The next day we set out to climb one of the taller granite peaks in the area — around 947 meters, part of the range that includes the tallest mountain in northern Kazakhstan. We took a wrong turn near a field associated with a historical Kazakh warrior figure and ended up bushwhacking a shortcut back to the marked trail, which cost us time but made for a better story.

The last stretch — roughly the final 250 meters of elevation — turned genuinely difficult: loose rock, loose gravel, and a steep enough grade that we stopped filming to focus on footing instead. If you're bringing kids, sturdy hiking shoes and a slow, patient pace matter more here than almost anywhere else in the park.

Banya, smoked fish, and the family secret spot

No trip to Kazakhstan feels complete without a banya — the Russian-style sauna, more intense on heat and steam than a standard Western sauna. This was somewhere around our ninth one since arriving in the country, paired with smoked fish, fresh vegetables, and a heated kids' pool that kept the younger campers entertained regardless of the weather.

One afternoon, a family member led us to a secret spot passed down through generations — coordinates known only within the family (and, apparently, to whoever vandalized a nearby rock with graffiti over the years). We hiked up carrying fruit in plastic bags to eat at the top, then carried the empty bags — and any trash we found along the way — back down. The logic is simple: you wouldn't throw trash in your own house, and nature isn't your neighbor's house either. It's everyone's, so treat it that way.

We closed out the trip the way a lot of good camping trips end: a lazy pedal-boat ride past Zhumbaktas, the balancing "mystery rock" that looks like an old woman from one angle and a young woman from the other, and a full walk around Burabay Lake on one of the park's few paved, genuinely scenic trails.

Planning your own trip to Burabay

If you're outside Kazakhstan and this is your first time hearing about Burabay, here's the pitch: it's one of the more accessible international glamping destinations for anyone curious about camping outside the US — granite peaks, pine forest, and alpine-clear lakes a few hours from Kokshetau or a longer drive from the capital. Pack for both extremes of weather (we saw both cold rain and full summer sun within a month of each other), book lakeside glamping sites early during peak summer, and budget time for at least one hike beyond the paved lakeside trail. Start a checklist for your next international camping trip in Camper's Checklist to keep the packing list straight, whether you land in a tent or a heated glamping cabin.