Attractions Near Ulaanbaatar

Gorkhi Terelj National Park is located 65 km northeast of Ulaanbaatar by paved road. High granite stone mountains with forest-covered northern slopes, multitudes of wildflower meadows along with the spectacular shape rocks formed by wind is a favorite scenery for the visitors. Fast-flowing rivers and streams make the national park more beautiful.
An average altitude of the 293.168 ha national park is 1600 m above sea level and the highest point is 2664 m Avkhan mountain. The national park is one of the most visited national parks due to its close location. There are numerous ger camps and resorts in the tourist zone before the Terelj River. The rest of the protection zones start after the Terelj River and become less touristy, less inhabited with pristine nature.

The gigantic steel equine statue mounted by Genghis Khan himself is the largest statue of an equestrian in the world. This 40 m tall statue is located on a hillside on the bank of the Tuul River in an area called Tsonjin Boldog and connected to capital Ulaanbaatar by 54 km paved road.
Tsonjin Boldog was chosen according to the legend that Genghis Khan found a whip in this area. In Mongolia, people believe that man finding a whip is a sign of fortune, good destiny, and occasion. The statue faces east, the direction of Genghis Khan's birthplace, and the sunrise. If you stretch your eyes to the east, you will see a small statue of his mother greeting him.

Hustai National Park is located 100 km southwest of capital Ulaanbaatar city, covering over 50,000 hectares of area. More than 50% of the land is mountain steppe, which lets its visitors feel what is the real mountain steppe is. The Hustai protected area was established in 1993, a year after the first successful reintroduction of wild horses or Przewalski horses in their wild homeland. The wild horse name Przewalski came after Russian Geographer (Polish origin) Nikolay Przhevalsky, who first discovered the wild horse during his central Asian research in 1878.
The only still-living wild ancestor of the domestic horses, the wild horse is called Takhi in the Mongolian language; those once roamed through Mongolian vast-open territory became extinct in the wild by the end of the 1960s.

Located within the forest of Khan Khentii Protected Area, 38 km northeast of Gorkhi Terelj National Park and 140 northeast of Ulaanbaatar at an altitude of 2100 m above the sea level in the south of Undur Saridag Mountain.
The Gunj Temple was built in 1740 by Efu (a title of a man who married with Qing princess)Dondovdorj to commemorate the death of his first wife, the youngest of 6 daughters of Qing Emperor Kangxi. There were 4-5 temples in 70m by 40 walls.
Unlike the other temples and monasteries, the communists did not destroy the Gunj/Princess Temple during the 1930s purge, although it has been neglected over the years and robbed.

The complex has 6 different camps and tribes, located at a distance of 1-3 kilometers from each other, where you can experience the way of living and working in the 13th century. It is needed to drive between the camp and sometimes hiking over rocky and uneven surfaces. Therefore, make sure your shoes are suitable for the experience.
The area that surrounds the park is rugged with picturesque open valleys day time and the nights are amazing with countless bright stars. As the complex imitates the 13th century, there is no internet, shower, phone reception (there is G-mobile signal at certain point) and electricity to disturb you enjoy the nature, nomad living and stargazing. The view is the best when you travel in summer.

You will be at the land of vast steppes will be seen meeting with the horizon, high mountains, rivers, lakes, and wetlands just after 2.5 to 3 hours driving on 113 km paved roads and 17 km earth road to the east of Ulaanbaatar.
Gun Galuut Nature Reserve is a relatively less-traveled area compared to the touristy national parks near Ulaanbaatar and suitable for nature lovers, wildlife lovers, and bird watchers. The imposing Baits and Berh mountains are habitats for the big-horned wild mountain sheep Argali.

Manzushir Monastery is a perfect day tour area located in the south of protected Bogd Khan Mountain, 45 km by road from Ulaanbaatar, and 8 km northeast of Zuunmod town.
Initially, the monastery was built for Manzushir, a Bodhisat of wisdom in 1773, among the picturesque natural settings of a pine-covered valley dotted with boulders and curved with streams on the altitude of 1800 m. The monastery suffered the same fate as the other monasteries in Mongolia. It had 20 temples housed by 350 monks when it destroyed during the communist purge in 1937. The main temple of the monastery partially restored in 1990, but others remain in ruins.
Despite the fact monastery remained in ruins, the surrounding nature is still beautiful. Two objects indestructible were two-tonne huge bronze cauldron and Buddhist paintings on the rock behind the monastery museum.