Hövsgöl is the twin lake to Lake Baikal and is located completely within the taiga lifezone of northern Mongolia. Hövsgöl is the second largest lake in the country, after Uvs Nuur. It lies in a narrow basin of alpine peaks which soar over a mile above its clear surface waters at 1645 meters above sea level (1200 meters higher elevation than nearby Lake Baikal).

Hövsgöl is extremely transparent and so pure you can actually drink it. Normally you can see to a depth of 16-18 meters and even to 25 meters (82 ft). The lake is the deepest in Mongolia (262 m/860 ft). It is nearly 640 km long (400 miles) about 200km away from Lake Baikal. Both lakes were created by the same geological movements of the Baikal rift some 5 million years ago. Seals were locked into Lake Baikal, but do not exist at Lake Hövsgöl.  For Europeans it is a remarkable experience to hike around this large pristine body of water, and rarely see any boats, ships or any activity on the lake itself. No wonder Lake Hövsgöl was declared Mongolia’s first ever national park.

Over the last ten years there has been massive development of ger camps along the western shore of the lake. Most visitors go to these camps, or to the village of Hatgal, on the southern tip of the lake.

How to travel there:

Lake Hövsgöl is reachable by plane (1½ hours flight). Mostly to Mörön, which has one of the five tarmac airfields in the country.  The transfer time by jeep to Hatgal is 3-4 hours (110km). Some flights also reach the gravel airfield at Hatgal.

The classical trip to Lake Hövsgöl is 4d/3n nights at a ger camp on the secluded Ardavhar Peninsula.  We offer also winter trips to the annual Ice Festival in February. We have done ice skating expeditions for Swedish ice skaters to the lake.

There are two land routes between Ulaanbaatar and Lake Hövsgöl. One is through Arhangai province and takes in a lot of sights en route, so it is best to use 8d/7n for Högnö Khan Mountain, Harhorin, Tsenkher Hot Springs, Horgo and Sangiyn Dalai Nuur. The northern route can take in Amarbayagasgalant Monastery in Selenge, and Uraan Togo extinct volcanoes. There are not ger camps enroute at a convenient distance from each other, which is why tents need be brought along.