Red hill

Known locally as Kyzyltobe, or "Red Hill," this low reddish-toned rise sits in the foothills of the western Tian Shan in Turkistan region, in the same foothill belt as the Boraldai gorge near Shymkent. The hill takes its name from the warm red-brown tone of its exposed slopes, which stand out against the surrounding steppe. It is protected chiefly for its plant life: every spring, roughly 60 hectares of its slopes turn bright red as colonies of wild tulips — ancestors of many cultivated tulip varieties grown worldwide — come into bloom. The site is one of several wild-tulip stations along the foothill zone running beneath the Karatau and western Tian Shan ranges, a belt recognized as one of the original centers of wild tulip diversity. Visitors timing a spring trip correctly can see the hillside carpeted in red blossoms for a short window of a few weeks before the flowers fade with the onset of summer heat.