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Altai Republic · RU

Saylyugemsky National Park

Saylyugemsky National Park sits at the wild southeastern edge of Russia's Altai Republic, where the borders of four nations — Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and China — nearly converge in a knot of high mountains, dry steppe, and alpine desert. Established in 2010 to protect the largest Russian population of Altai argali mountain sheep and one of the country's densest snow leopard groups, the park is a haven for serious wildlife watchers and off-the-grid adventurers. Covering 118,380 hectares across three separate clusters — Saylyugem, Ulandryk, and Argut — the park spans landscapes from rolling Mongolian-style grasslands at the national border to glacially carved river valleys touching 3,600 meters. Visitors come here to observe argali through high-powered scopes, spot the elusive Pallas's cat, learn from indigenous Telengit herders, and ride horseback through some of the most remote terrain in Europe and Asia.