Terelj National Park & Turtle Rock

Горхи-Тэрэлж байгалийн цогцолборт газар, Мэлхий хад

A 24 m granite turtle on the grass, and a night in a ger

Hours

Park open year-round; temple and camp facilities vary by season

Tickets

There's a small park entry fee (check on site); Aryabal Temple and activities extra

Address

Turtle Rock (Melkhii Khad) inside Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, about 60 km east of the city, just over an hour by car

An hour out of the city the landscape flips: rounded granite outcrops, grassland and larch woods, white ger camps scattered along the road. In the middle of it all a 24-metre rock turtle sits with its head poking out. Men with eagles and camels wait by the rock for photo customers. Aryabal Meditation Temple is a 10–15 minute climb up a nearby slope, and if you stay the night the stars are ridiculous.