Bayanaul

Bayanaul National Park was created in 1985 in Pavlodar province, in north-eastern Kazakhstan, and protects some 684 km². It was the country's first national park, declared while it was still part of the Soviet Union.

Like Burabay, it is an oasis of forest and rock in the middle of the steppe: a massif of eroded granite rising above the plain, covered in pine and mixed birch and aspen woods, with lakes set between the hills, among them Sabyndykol, Zhasybay and Toraigyr. The granite formations, sculpted by the wind into fanciful silhouettes, carry popular names and are one of the park's attractions.

The flora combines boreal, steppe and mountain elements, with relict species and endemics of the isolated massifs of central Kazakhstan. It is home to Kazakh argali, bobak marmot, elk and a birdlife transitional between forest and steppe. Its caves hold rock paintings from the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, and the district is tied to the memory of several Kazakh poets and musicians born there.