Yolyn Am Ice Canyon

The Gobi's Vulture Valley, Frozen Deep Into Summer

Cutting through the Zuun Saikhan mountains of Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Yolyn Am — “Vulture Valley” — is one of the Gobi’s most surprising landscapes: a narrow, shaded gorge that holds a thick river of ice well into summer, despite sitting in the middle of one of Asia’s driest deserts. Protected since 1965, the canyon takes its name from the lammergeier, or bearded vulture, called “yol” in Mongolian, that nests among its cliffs.

A River of Ice in the Desert

Meltwater and shade combine to keep sections of Yolyn Am’s stream frozen for much of the year, forming an ice field that can reach several metres thick by late winter. In past decades the ice remained year-round; today it typically persists into summer before melting by September, a change increasingly attributed to a warming climate.

Wildlife of the Gorge

Beyond the lammergeier, the canyon shelters Himalayan and cinereous vultures, the rare Altai snowcock, and the delicate wallcreeper, while its steep walls are home to argali sheep and Siberian ibex, and occasionally the elusive snow leopard. A small museum at the canyon entrance displays local wildlife, petrified wood, and information on the gorge’s ecology.

Walking the Gorge

The main hiking route runs roughly 4 kilometres round trip, starting gently before narrowing to a rocky path that in places requires stepping across the stream or, in colder months, walking carefully over ice. In sections, the canyon walls close in so tightly that only two people can pass side by side.

Gallery

• Walk a narrow desert gorge that holds ice into summer
• Spot lammergeier and other rare raptors overhead
• Look for argali sheep and Siberian ibex on the cliffs
• Visit the small wildlife and geology museum at the entrance