Last Updated on: 17th October 2026, 10:49 am
Though Uzbekistan’s neighbors largely steal the spotlight when it comes to hiking in Central Asia, the Little Chimgan Hike is a scenic and rewarding trek within easy reach of Tashkent.
It’s a relatively short but challenging 6.3 km trek that offers sweeping views of the Charvak Reservoir below. In the following guide, we’ll be covering what to expect from the hike itself, along with the multiple steps required to reach the trailhead.
About This Hike
THE BASICS: This is a 6.3 km out-and-back hike with roughly 530 meters of elevation gain. The peak of Little Chimgan stands at 2,099 meters (6,879 ft) high, offering amazing views of the Charvak Reservoir below.
It’s a constant uphill climb until you reach the summit, while some scrambling is required near the end. Depending on trail conditions, the hike could be rated as either moderate or difficult.
All in all, the roundtrip hike should take you about three hours.
Aside from the hike, one of the biggest challenges of the day will be getting to the trailhead from Tashkent. Check the end of the article for tips on reaching the Chimgan.
Just note that given the rampant construction taking place throughout the area, the approach to the trailhead might look quite different from the pictures below.
WHAT TO BRING: Hiking shoes and trekking poles (or just one) are recommended for this hike, as there are some steep and slippery sections. Though you may be fine without them, I was certainly glad that I’d worn proper shoes and a pole.
Though the hike isn’t that long overall, it’s only partly shaded, so be sure to bring enough sunscreen.
I didn’t encounter any shops in the area, so it would be wise to buy snacks and water in advance in Tashkent.
RECOMMENDED APPS: You can find this hike outlined on the AllTrails app. However, if you’re not a subscriber, you should be fine using an offline app like Maps.me or Organic Maps instead.
Hiking to Little Chimgan
As I was just directing my driver to head toward the trailhead marked on the AllTrails app, I didn’t realize that the trail was situated within a complex known as ‘Geo Park Rake Nur.’
But the establishment appeared to be brand new. In fact, it was still largely being built at the time of my visit in 2025. Fortunately, the entrance gate was left open, and upon walking inside, the workers didn’t seem to mind that I’d entered.
It’s unclear, however, if the gate is going to remain open to the public once the place begins operating.
But considering how the Little Chimgan hike has long been one of the most popular day treks from Tashkent, it’s unlikely that they’d start prohibiting access.
On that note, the trail is part of the Chimgan Ugam-Chatkal National Park, though I didn’t encounter any ticket counters at the time of my visit. One wonders if that may someday change.
Once inside the ‘Geo Park’ – which appears to be some kind of resort – I continued walking east past multiple construction sites. I was having doubts over whether or not I was really in the right place, but a worker thankfully pointed me in the right direction.
I then encountered another gate, which was thankfully open. And past it began the official trail to Little Chimgan.
Though the elevation gain of this hike is ‘only’ about 500 meters, it’s a nonstop ascent from the very beginning. The slope isn’t terribly steep for the most part, but I found myself breathing heavily from early on.
Fortunately, the trail was quite easy to follow for the most part – especially in the beginning. And as expected, the views grew prettier the higher I got.
Before long, I got some fantastic views of the surrounding Chatkal mountain range of which Little Chimgan is a part.
Located in the Western Tian Shan range, the Chatkal Mountains are situated about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Tashkent.
And these mountains have long been a popular destination for Uzbeks. Back in Soviet times, people from around the USSR would come here as well, as Chimgan was home to a major sanatorium.
All in all, however, Uzbekistan’s mountains – and natural scenery as a whole – are largely overshadowed by the mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.
And having visited those other countries, I’d have to agree that Uzbekistan’s scenery can’t really compete. Nevertheless, this is still an enjoyable hike for those with an extra day in Tashkent.
After roughly an hour of hiking, the mountain grew a lot more barren. The views began to open up even more, but the trail also grew rougher and dustier.
The hike also started to grow steeper and steeper. But with the peak in plain view, I kept pushing myself to carry on.
Before long, it wasn’t just the slope I had to worry about, but large, craggy rocks. For the first time in the hike, the trail became a lot less obvious.
As I made my way higher, I repeatedly turned around to check out the views. Despite the hassle of getting here (more below), I was already feeling that the hike was worth it. But the best views were yet to come.
But I still had to make my way up a particularly steep and slippery section. But as we’ll cover shortly, going up it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as the way back down.
After the slippery section came another challenging part. The trail grew ever more rocky, turning into more of a scramble than a hike. I needed to use my hands, carefully calculating each move in advance.
And just when I thought the rocky section was over, I’d keep encountering more.
Eventually, however, the effort paid off. I found myself overlooking the Chorvok Reservoir, which was created in the 1970s by the Charvak hydroelectric dam.
Though it was a slightly hazy day, I could still clearly make out the water situated roughly 1000 m below me.
I still had a little bit further walk before reaching the actual peak of Little Chimgan. But notably, this final ridge is the only flat portion of the hike following the nonstop ascent.
Well, not totally flat. But the hardest part was at least over (of the ascent, that is).
As you might guess from the name. Little Chimgan isn’t the only major mountain in these parts. There is indeed a ‘Bolshoy Chimgan,’ or ‘Big Chimgan,’ that reaches up to 3,309 m.
But that mountain is a bit farther away from Tashkent, and the trail up seems considerably longer. In fact, there’s not even a ‘Greater Chimgan’ hike listed on AllTrails, as a large majority of people seem to choose this one.
Finally, I reached the sign that officially marked the summit: 2,099 meters above sea level.
Interestingly, this sign is written in Cyrillic, indicating that it must be a relic of the Soviet era. In contrast to neighboring Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan now writes out its own language in the Roman alphabet rather than Cyrillic. But Kazakhstan has also announced plans to follow suit.
Though I could bask in my sense of accomplishment for having officially reached the peak, the views weren’t necessarily any better or different than they were at the beginning of the ridge.
After eating some of the snacks I’d brought, I decided that it was time to head down. After all, I wasn’t sure how long it would ultimately take me to get back to the city.
Though I’d been dreading dealing with the scrambling section on the way down, it didn’t turn out to be so bad. As long as I found a stable rock on which to place my feet, I was able to take advantage of gravity to gradually come down.
The worst part, however, would come right after.
I soon found myself back at the steepest and most slippery section of the trail. With almost nothing to hold onto, I realized that getting down would be far from straightforward.
Not only was the angle incredibly steep, but the trail in this section consisted entirely of loose scree. I crouched down, moving as slowly as possible – even sliding on my butt at some points.
I also zigzagged across the trail in order to find parts that were slightly less steep. And when I could, I took advantage of grassy sections for added friction. Having one trekking pole also really came in handy here.
Taking things very slowly, I eventually made it past this part without slipping. But the descent easily took me just as long – if not longer – than climbing up this section of the trail.
Past this part, the rest of the trail was normal, and I ultimately had no more trouble on my way down to the trailhead.
Back on the main road, I was anticipating a tough time getting back, as it was already late afternoon. But a shared taxi appeared within minutes.
Looking back, I’m still not sure if these taxis are more frequent than I expected, or if I just got incredibly lucky.
Additional Info
Though Little Chimgan can definitely be conquered as a day trip from Tashkent, reaching the trailhead isn’t very straightforward, and requires three different steps each way.
First of all, from wherever you’re staying in Tashkent, you’ll want to head to the subway station called Buyuk Ipak Yuli (Maxim Gorky).
Once there, lined up along the road outside are various shared minivans, and you’ll want to take the one bound for Gazalkent. These vans will only depart when full, making total travel time unpredictable.
Once on the road, the journey to Gazalkent should take about an hour. Expect the journey to cost around 15,000 som.
Once in the town of Gazalkent, getting from there to the trailhead is the trickiest part. First of all, as far as I can tell, there’s no organized transport from Gazalkent to Chimgan, leaving shared taxi as the only option. In any case, you’ll want to head to the bus terminal (which is just a parking lot) marked on Google Maps.
Furthermore, ‘Chimgan’ is the name of a general area with lots of different resorts and accommodations. It’s unlikely that the other passengers in the shared taxi with you will just happen to be hiking the Little Chimgan Trail and will probably be getting off elsewhere.
Therefore, it’s important to be very clear with the driver about where you want to get dropped off. But that’s not so easy given the language barrier. In my case, I’d been aware that the trailhead was located in a place called ‘Geo Park Rake Nur,’ so I just kind of had to show him the trailhead on the map and then tell him to stop when we got near. But now that you know, saying that you want to go to Rake Nur should make things easier.
Nevertheless, negotiating with drivers in Central Asia is often a pain regardless of the details. Though the driver initially quoted me 80,000 som, I waited for extra people to show up and it was brought down to 25,000. But this was rather lucky, as I waited for around twenty minutes and nearly gave up before other interested passengers appeared.
Once in the car, the drive from Gazalkent to Rake Nur took about 40 minutes.
Given the difficulty of reaching the trailhead, I was dreading the return trip, thinking I’d have to hitchhike back to Gazalkent from the main road. But miraculously, following my hike, a shared taxi drove past me within minutes, and they had one available seat.
The journey to Gazalkent cost me 20,000 som. Once back in town, I then quickly found a shared minivan that was about to depart for Tashkent.
Tashkent is a huge and sprawling city, so regardless of where you stay, you’re going to be needing the subway or taxis at certain points. On that note, the closer you are to a subway station, the better.
All in all, accommodation in Tashkent is pricier than in Uzbekistan’s main touristic cities (Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva).
As a budget traveler, I found a good deal at a place called Hayot Hostel located in the southern part of the city. Though it was very cheap, it wasn’t near a metro station, so I ended up having to use Yandex Go to get around much of the time.
I also encountered a weird situation where my room shared a window with the guest house’s shared kitchen! And though there was a curtain, it didn’t really block the light, nor the sound.
For those on a slightly higher budget, the Welcome Inn Hotel has great reviews, as does Harris Hotel Spa&Fitness.
And for those able to splurge, Farovon Tashkent Boutique Hotel and LOTTE City Hotels Tashkent Palace also seem like great choices.
Note that when visiting Uzbekistan, you’re supposed to collect little slips of paper from each accommodation proving where you stayed and for how many nights. You may then be asked to show them when leaving the country.
A lot of hotel owners will tell you that the system is digitized now and therefore it shouldn’t matter anymore. There are also many cases where the officers won’t ask anything at all.
But the reality on the ground is that immigration officers are indeed still sometimes asking for the paper slips. And I’ve met some travelers who got themselves into trouble when they couldn’t provide them.
I entered and exited the country twice, and though I wasn’t asked anything during my first exit, I was asked during my second. Fortunately, I had them on me.
BY RAIL:
Generally speaking, Uzbekistan is one of the easier countries to travel through in Central Asia thanks to its rail network. You can easily book tickets online or via the official Uzbek Railways app.
Coming from Bukhara, the regular train lasts 6-8 hours, while the express train takes a little over four.
From Samarkand, the regular train lasts around 4.5 hours, while the express train takes 2-3.
Direct trains from Khiva exist, but the slow trains take as long as 14 hours.
It’s also possible to take a direct train from Termez, with the ride lasting 9-10 hours.
BY AIR:
Tashkent International Airport is very well connected. You can find direct international flights from cities like Paris, London, Istanbul, Beijing, Seoul, Dubai, New York, and various cities in Russia.
FROM TAJIKISTAN:
It’s relatively easy to get to Tashkent by land from Tajikistan, with the nearest Tajik city being Khujand.
First, take a taxi to a place marked ‘Taksistkho Maschokh, Oybek’ on Google Maps. Once there, you should be able to take a shared taxi to the Oybek/Aybek border for roughly 70 Tajik somoni.
In my case, the border crossing was relatively smooth and uneventful. And then on the Uzbek side, I paid 150,000 Uzbek som for a shared taxi, which was perhaps a bit much, but the driver did drop me off directly at my hotel.
