# Shymkent Arboretum > Shymkent Arboretum, locally called the Dendropark, is a 117-hectare park in the north of the city, planted from 1979 on a former landfill: a lake with pedal boats, shady alleys and a long cycle path. Entry is about 100 tenge; unofficially it is open daily from 5:00 to 1:00 at night. Allow 1.5 hours, or half a day with the zoo next door. Web page: https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-arboretum - City: [Shymkent](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent), Kazakhstan - YesGo score: 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h 30 min - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: ≈ 100 KZT - Free entry: Schoolchildren, pensioners, people with disabilities, veterans - Hours: Daily 5:00–01:00 - Closed: Never — open every day - Paying: Cash in small tenge notes; kiosks often take only Kaspi QR, which needs a local bank — foreign cards are hit-and-miss - Rentals: Pedal boats and rowing boats on the lake, bikes and scooters - Getting there: Taxi from Ordabasy Square ≈ 15–20 min, or a city bus along Baidibek Bi Avenue - Address: 108/10 Baidibek Bi Ave, Samal-2 microdistrict - Nearby: Shymkent Zoo — about 1 km - Coordinates: 42.37030, 69.61708 - Facts checked: 02.11.2026 ## Key facts - **1979** — planting began on the site of a former city landfill (source: Kazakhstan.travel; BES.media; We Project) - **≈ 117 ha** — the park's area according to the city administration; older sources say 120–151 ha (source: BES.media (Shymkent akimat); Wikidata Q25481791) - **≈ 100 KZT** — entry ticket; free for schoolchildren and pensioners (source: Kazinform; Sxodim city guide; Digital Business) - **3 ha** — the man-made lake, fed by irrigation canals (source: BES.media; We Project) - **Tulip tree** — the North American tree was first grown in Kazakhstan here (source: Kazakhstan.travel; We Project; Sxodim city guide) - **Alley of Honour** — trees planted by Dinmukhamed Kunayev, Nursultan Nazarbayev and writer Mukhtar Auezov (source: Kazakhstan.travel; We Project; Sxodim city guide) - **Asanbai Askarov** — the Soviet-era regional party leader the park is named after (source: Kazakhstan.travel; Sxodim city guide) - **Protected area** — the arboretum has specially protected status (source: Bizmedia.kz (Shymkent mayor); Sxodim city guide) - **1980** — a children's railway opened, linking the north of the city with the park and zoo area (source: English Wikipedia; Sxodim city guide) - **≈ 1 km** — to the entrance of Shymkent Zoo (source: our calculation from Wikidata and Wikipedia coordinates) ## Shymkent Arboretum entrance fee Entry costs **about 100 tenge** — a token sum, well under a dollar. Kazinform reported the rise from 39 tenge, and Digital Business quoted the same 100 tenge in its 2026 city guide. Schoolchildren, pensioners, people with disabilities and veterans go in free. The ticket desk is at the arched main gate on Baidibek Bi Avenue, with a price list in Kazakh and Russian. Boat, bike and scooter hire is paid separately at the rental points; we don't quote those prices because they change every season. > **Bring cash in tenge** Many kiosks in Kazakhstan ask “cash or Kaspi?” — Kaspi QR is a local banking app that most visitors can't use. Foreign Visa and Mastercard work in big shops but not reliably at a park gate or a boat-hire hut, so carry small notes for the ticket and rentals. ## Opening hours According to Kazinform and the Sxodim city guide, the park is **open every day from 5:00 to 1:00 at night**, with no closing day. The early start was introduced at residents' request: Shymkent summers are hot by mid-morning, so locals jog and walk here at dawn. In 2024 Informburo reported 5:00 to midnight, and older travel listings still show 9:00–20:00. There is no official website, so treat the hours as unconfirmed — any time in daylight or early evening is safe. Boat and bike hire keep shorter, daytime hours. ## How to get to Shymkent Arboretum 1. Easiest: a taxi from Ordabasy Square to the main gate on Baidibek Bi Avenue takes about 15–20 minutes. Yandex Go and inDrive both work in Shymkent and show the fare up front. 2. By bus: unofficial listings give routes 17, 45, 57, 70, 108, 171 and 171A. Check in the 2GIS app which one passes near Ordabasy — it has live routes in English. City buses may not take foreign cards, so keep small tenge notes or ask the driver how to pay. 3. Get off at the arched main entrance in the Samal-2 microdistrict, where the ticket desk and a free car park are. 4. Pay about 100 tenge and follow the main alley down to the lake. 5. Afterwards walk about a kilometre to [Shymkent Zoo](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-zoo) and take a taxi back to the centre from there. ## Is Shymkent Arboretum worth visiting? Yes, if you want shade, quiet and a proper walk — it is the biggest green space in the city and a real escape from the summer heat. Don't expect a botanical garden with labels on every plant: it is closer to a city forest with a lake, alleys and bike paths. If you have a single day in Shymkent, the centre, [Ordabasy Square](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/ordabasy-square) and the [Shymkala citadel](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-citadel) say more about the city. With two days, or with children, the arboretum and the zoo make an easy half-day. ## A former landfill turned city forest The park was started in **1979** on the site of a city dump, on the initiative of **Asanbai Askarov**, then the Communist Party leader of the South Kazakhstan region, whose name it now bears. Trees were brought in from across the Soviet Union, and the park's scientists studied which species could survive the hot, dry south. It was the first place in Kazakhstan to grow the North American **tulip tree**. Today the arboretum has protected status, and locals call it “the lungs of Shymkent”. ## Things to do and see - Hire a **pedal boat or rowing boat** on the 3-hectare lake — rare in a Kazakh city park. - Cross the **footbridge** over the lake, the park's classic photo spot. - Walk the **Alley of Honour**, where Kunayev, Nazarbayev, Auezov and visiting leaders planted trees. - Find the **tulip tree**, which flowers yellow-orange in spring. - Ride the long **cycle path** along the route of the old children's railway — at its best in yellow October. - Look out for squirrels, ducks and the tulip and camel-caravan sculptures. ## Best time to go **April–May and October** are the best months. Spring brings fresh green and the tulip tree in flower; in autumn the alleys and the lake turn yellow and orange. In summer go early in the morning or after 18:00 — the midday heat in Shymkent is fierce. Evenings are lively with local families, while weekday mornings are quiet. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Small tenge notes for the ticket and rentals - [ ] Comfortable shoes — long alleys and a staircase to the lake - [ ] Water and a hat in summer - [ ] 1.5 hours for the park, 2 more if you add the zoo - [ ] 2GIS and Yandex Go on your phone for the ride back ## Arboretum, zoo or Independence Park? | | Arboretum | Zoo | Independence Park | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | City forest with a lake | City zoo | Formal park in the centre | | Where | North, Samal-2 | About 1 km from the arboretum | By Ordabasy Square, over a footbridge | | Entry | ≈ 100 KZT | Separate ticket | — | | Time needed | 1.5 h | 1.5–2 h | 30–40 min | | Best for | Walks, bikes, shade | Families with kids | A short stroll in the centre | The arboretum and the zoo are one half-day trip. [Independence Park](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-independence-park) is right by the centre — no separate trip needed. ## Shymkent places by the water Waterside places in Shymkent rated by YesGo. - [Shymkent Arboretum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-arboretum) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ 100 KZT, schoolchildren free ## Half a day in northern Shymkent The arboretum and the zoo in the morning, then back to Independence Park and Ordabasy Square in the centre. Add them to your route — YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Shymkent Arboretum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-arboretum) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ 100 KZT, schoolchildren free 2. [Shymkent Zoo](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-zoo) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · 800 KZT, children 6–17 400 KZT 3. [Independence Park](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/shymkent-independence-park) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free 4. [Ordabasy Square](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/shymkent/ordabasy-square) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free ## Good to know You will see several names for the same place: Dendropark, Asanbai Askarov Arboretum, Shymkent State Dendrological Park. Taxi drivers know it simply as “Dendropark”. The Dendropark residential complex in Shymkent is a different, unrelated address. ## Tips - Pair the park with Shymkent Zoo — about a kilometre away, an easy half-day. - The cycle path is long: hire a bike rather than walking it. - There are more than 40 steps down to the lake — with a pushchair, look for the side path. - In summer arrive before 10:00 or after 18:00. - Say “Dendropark” to taxi drivers — the English name means little locally. ## Questions ### How much is the entrance fee to Shymkent Arboretum? About 100 tenge per adult. Schoolchildren, pensioners, people with disabilities and veterans enter free. ### What are Shymkent Arboretum opening hours? Unofficially, daily from 5:00 to 1:00 at night with no closing day. A 2024 report gave 5:00 to midnight, so plan to visit in daylight. ### How do I get to Shymkent Arboretum? A taxi from Ordabasy Square takes about 15–20 minutes. Unofficial bus routes are 17, 45, 57, 70, 108, 171 and 171A — check them in 2GIS. ### Can I pay by card at the arboretum? Don't count on it. Carry small tenge notes: kiosks often take only cash or Kaspi QR, a local app most visitors can't use. ### Is Shymkent Arboretum worth visiting? Yes for shade, a lake and a long walk or bike ride. With only one day in Shymkent, the centre and Shymkala citadel come first. ### How long do you need at the arboretum? About 1.5 hours for the lake, alleys and cycle path; half a day if you add the zoo. ### Can you rent boats or bikes? Yes — pedal boats and rowing boats on the lake, and bikes and scooters near the entrance, paid separately. ### Is the arboretum near Shymkent Zoo? Yes, the zoo entrance is about a kilometre away, so the two make one trip. ### When is the arboretum most beautiful? In April–May, when the tulip tree flowers, and in October, when the leaves turn yellow and orange. ## How we checked The park has no official website, so the fee, hours, free categories, rentals and bus routes are marked “verifying”. About 100 tenge is given by Kazinform, Sxodim and Digital Business; a 2017 article quoting 21 tenge is out of date. Hours differ: 5:00–01:00 (Kazinform, Sxodim), 5:00–24:00 (Informburo, 2024), 6:00–21:00 and 9:00–20:00 in travel listings — we show the first as unofficial. Free early-morning and late-night hours appear in one listing only, so we leave them out. The area follows the city administration (117.04 ha, also in Wikidata); other sources say 120, about 140 or 151 ha. Tree and species counts change with each survey and are not shown. We calculated the distance to the zoo ourselves from coordinates. Payment advice comes from travel money guides and the Kaspi/Alipay+ announcement, not from the park. ## Sources - Kazinform: report on the new hours and entrance fee of the Shymkent Dendropark - Sxodim city guide (sxodim.com): Asanbai Askarov Dendropark listing and autumn walk article - Digital Business, 23.03.2026: guide to the best places in Shymkent - Informburo, 16.05.2024: the park switching to a 5 a.m. opening - BES.media, 27.10.2026: Shymkent akimat's reply on the state of the arboretum - Kazakhstan.travel (Kazakh Tourism): Asanbai Askarov Arboretum - We Project, 2017: interview with the park's scientific staff - Bizmedia.kz, 2023: Shymkent mayor on the park's protected status - Wikidata Q25481791; English Wikipedia: Shymkent Children's Railway, Shymkent Zoo - Kaspi.kz and Alipay+ announcement, 2025; travel money guides for Kazakhstan — on paying as a visitor --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.