When drive to BesShatyr, you can see the famous Sholak Mountains in the North. It is one the southern spurs of the Semirechensky Alatau and almost entirely located in Altyn Emel National Park. Dry, old, badly eroded mountains are manly composed of igneous rocks. There are few open gorges, that are “must visit” places here: Kyzylauz and Taygak. Kyzylauz Gorge is relatively short, rocks have a pinkish tint at its entrance and due to that valley got its name (“kyzylauz” in Kazak means “red mouth”) The bottom of the canyon is broad and thickly overgrown with shrubs (spirea, dog rose, ephedra etc.). Among small groves of trees (including ironwoods) some big clear creeks run. Beautiful butterflies are fluttering, crickets are chirping, birds are twittering – it is a small oasis inside a barren cliff. Rocky slopes of Sholak mountains look utterly lifeless from a  distance, but up close they are full of life: graceful Siberian ibexes called Teki live on the cliffs, Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is soaring in the sky, motely-colored hoopoe (Upupa epops) wanders around in the grass.

Taygak is another short canyon in the desert Sholak mountains ending with stone circus of cliffs with steep walls. In spring gentle slopes of the gorge are covered with a green carpet of various ephemeral plants, which by May already bloomed and mountains become brownish-yellow. During fall season there are a lot of herds of Siberian ibex in these hard to reach places among the rocks. Wild or tart cherry (Cerasus tianschanica) blossoms appears in bright pink colors on the slopes in early spring. Butterflies are everywhere, on the rocks and flowers, fluttering in the sky: Pandora and Cardinal, Nymphalis and Melanargia – all them are nice and different. The sky above the canyon is full of various birds of prey, there are numerous buzzards and eagles, Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), vultures and some Egyptian vultures can be met. A beautiful pheasant, colorful rollers, blue bee-eaters, kekliks (or chukar partridge) live here untouched. The pride of Altyn Emel park is certainly a large population of onagers (Equus hemionus), more than two thousands. Another ornament is graceful steppe black tailed gazelle called Dzheiran. 

In some valleys of the ridge, on the black stones and rocks, many carvings has been done – especially images of goats and other animals, lots of images of deers (that could not be found here anymore). Usually deer inhabit riverbanks floodplain forests or tugai (local name of floodplain forests). Most of the petroglyphs are very old (few thousands years), but there are some recent: black “bronzed” boulders seem to be very convenient for the rock art of any type.