Bogd Khan Uul: Ulaanbaatar Travel Guide (4.7★)

Where the city stops

Ulaanbaatar ends against a wall of trees. Stand on the hill at the Zaisan Memorial and you get both views at once: the apartment blocks and chimneys of the capital to the north, and a dark ridge of larch and Siberian pine rising to the south. That ridge is Bogd Khan Uul.

The range runs along the city’s whole southern flank. Its north-facing slopes hold the southern fringe of the Siberian taiga. The southern side opens into grassland and steppe. Higher up, the forest thins to rock and alpine tundra around the summit, Tsetseegun, at about 2,256 metres.

A mountain protected since the 1700s

This is no ordinary city park. Bogd Khan Uul was set aside as a sacred, protected mountain in the late 18th century, during the Qing period. That makes it one of the earliest protected areas anywhere, older than Yellowstone by close to a century.

Hunting and logging were forbidden for religious reasons long before conservation law existed. Today the range is a Strictly Protected Area and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which is why a real forest still stands so close to a capital of well over a million people.

On the southern side are the ruins of Manzushir Monastery. It was founded in the 1730s and largely destroyed during the purges of 1937. The rebuilt main temple and a small museum stand among scattered foundations and Buddhist rock paintings on the slope. It is a quiet, sobering place to start a walk.

Choosing your trailhead

Your starting point decides what kind of day you have. Here are the main options:

• Zaisan, north side: the quickest access from central Ulaanbaatar, a short taxi ride south across the Tuul River. Paths climb steeply through forest from the edge of the city.
• Manzushir Monastery, south side: reached via the town of Zuunmod in Töv Province, about an hour’s drive south. The monastery ruins come first, then open meadows, then the climb to the summit.
• The full traverse: walking from Manzushir over Tsetseegun and down to Zaisan is a long full-day hike. Arrange your driver at both ends before you set off.

Paths are often unmarked once you are among the trees. Download an offline map, or hire a local guide for the traverse. There is no mobile signal on parts of the ridge.

Taiga on the north slope

Under the larches the light drops and the ground turns soft with moss. The north slopes stay cool and damp for most of the year. That moisture is why the forest grows here at all, at the edge of the steppe.

The park is known for wildlife you won’t see in the city an hour away. Threatened species of deer and hare live in the forest and grassland. Red deer and Siberian roe deer are the ones walkers most hope to spot, usually at the edges of clearings. Give them room, and don’t follow animals off the path.

Wildflowers fill the southern meadows in early summer. In autumn the larch needles turn gold before they fall, and walkers come specifically for that colour.

Beating the weekend crowd

The quietest stretches are the early ones. On weekdays the park is calmest from 7am to 10am. On weekends the quiet window is shorter, from 7am to 9am.

Don’t arrive from 1pm onward on a weekend. The busiest period runs from 1pm to 11pm. That is when the trailheads closest to the city fill up and the lower paths turn into a steady stream of walkers.

On a weekday, though, the range still feels like an overlooked find so close to a capital. An early start also leaves time for the summit and the walk down before the afternoon weather turns. Mountain storms build quickly here in summer.

Around the ovoo

You will come across ovoos all over the range: cairns of stones wrapped in blue khadag scarves, with prayer flags tied on. Mongolians treat Bogd Khan Uul as a sacred mountain, and there are customs for how to pass one.

• Walk around the ovoo clockwise, usually three times.
• Pick up a stone from the ground and add it to the pile as you circle.
• Don’t take anything away from an ovoo: no stones, scarves or offerings.
• Don’t climb on the cairn or sit against it for a photo.

The forest rules come from the same respect. Don’t light open fires, because fire is the greatest threat to this taiga. Carry out every scrap of rubbish, and keep dogs on a lead near wildlife. Rangers work at the main entry points. Expect to stop and register, and pay any entry charge at the ranger post, where current requirements are explained. Don’t treat the mountain as an open trail you can wander onto unannounced.

What to pack for Tsetseegun

The summit has its own climate. Snow can fall on Tsetseegun outside winter, and the wind on the bare top is far colder than the city below. Pack for the summit, not for the trailhead:

• A warm layer and a windproof shell, even in July.
• More water than seems necessary. Streams are few on the upper slopes.
• Waterproof boots for the boggy forest floor on the north side.
• An offline map, plus a paper note of your route left with someone in town.
• Food for the whole day. There is nothing to buy past the monastery.

A summit round trip from either side takes most of a day. The full traverse takes all of one, so start early. If you only have a morning, walk an hour up from the Zaisan side into the forest, then come back. You will still get the larch, the quiet and the city view.