Natural Heritage · Natural site
Khögnö Khan Mountain
A sacred mountain where steppe meets taiga, beside the Elsen Tasarkhai dunes, on the road from Ulaanbaatar to Kharkhorin.
- Location
- Gurvanbulag and Rashaant soums, Bulgan aimag
- Type
- Natural site
- Key Fact
- Reserve 1997; national park 2003
About the Site
Khögnö Khan rises to 1,962 metres on the border of Bulgan, Övörkhangai and Töv aimags. It was declared a nature reserve in 1997 and a national park in 2003. The park lies where steppe and taiga meet, so plants and animals of both live here; wolves, deer and foxes are among them.
On the mountain stand the remains of a monastery built by Zanabazar in the 17th century. Its monks were massacred by the Dzungar forces of Galdan Boshugtu, and the monastery was restored after 1990. Sources disagree on its dates, so none are given here.
Below the mountain runs Elsen Tasarkhai, a strip of sand dunes about 80 km long, part of the great sand dunes of central Mongolia.
What to See
- Walks up the rocky slopes of the mountain
- The restored monastery and its ruins
- Elsen Tasarkhai, the dune belt beside the road
Visiting
- About 250 km from Ulaanbaatar along the road to Kharkhorin, and a common overnight stop on the way to the Orkhon valley.
- Check access and conditions locally before walking on the mountain.
Also in the Region
Khangai Mountains
Natural site
Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake
A high mountain lake dammed by the lava of the Khorgo volcano, at the heart of a national park in the Khangai.
Khalkha khanates
Zayain Gegeen Monastery
The monastery of the Zaya Pandita lineage in Tsetserleg, whose 17th-century temples now house the museum of Arkhangai aimag.
Natural site
Ögii Lake
A shallow steppe lake in Arkhangai, a Ramsar wetland and stopover for migrating ducks, geese and swans.