Three Bears wooden sculpture, Ayusai Gorge, Ile-Alatau National Park, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Three
Bears
No named maker · “Три медведя” (Three Bears), wooden sculpture group, in place by 2017 · entrance to Ayusai Gorge, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Photo as published on Street Art Utopia; photographer and date not named. It shows two of the three bears
At the mouth of Ayusai Gorge, in the mountains just above Almaty, three carved wooden bears mark the spot where the trail to the Ayusai waterfalls begins. Hiking guides have used the group as their starting point since at least 2017, and the spot itself goes by “Three Bears”. None of the sources we found names the maker or says when the bears were put up.
4 things to know
- Where the trail startsGuides to the Ayusai waterfalls all start at the bears. Zabugorshiki calls the sculpture the landmark “from which the real trail into the narrow part of the gorge begins”; x-travels.ru starts its route “from the now famous sculpture of three bears”, and Russian Wikipedia says hikers use the group as their reference point. Zabugorshiki · x-travels.ru · Russian Wikipedia
- Bears in the Bear GorgeTengrinews explains that Ayusai means “Bear Gorge” or “Bear Hollow” in Kazakh, after the Tian Shan brown bears that once lived there. A tour page by Zabugorshiki adds a local legend that “a family of bears once lived near the waterfalls”. Tengrinews · Zabugorshiki
- Older than the visitor centerIn x-travels.ru’s photo of the gorge entrance, shipping containers and yurts stand around the clearing, and the blog notes that the bears are “just left of the right container”. It later added that this makeshift camp was cleared and a modern visitor center built in its place. Zabugorshiki dates the visitor center to 2021, and Tengrinews, in July 2021, began its route there. x-travels.ru · Zabugorshiki · Tengrinews
- Wood, maker unknownWildTicket Asia describes “a wooden sculpture depicting three bears”, and OpenStreetMap tags it as wood. The map point was first added on 28 April 2017 under the name “Медвежонок” (Bear cub) and later renamed “Три Медведя” (Three Bears). No source we found names who carved the bears, who commissioned them or in which year. WildTicket Asia · OpenStreetMap
Check-in guide
- 📍
- At the entrance to Ayusai Gorge, a side valley on the left of the Big Almaty Gorge in Ile-Alatau National Park, next to the Ayusai visitor center (address Kokshoky 1A, as given by Tengrinews). Zabugorshiki puts the visitor center about 15 km from central Almaty, after the national park’s checkpoint on the road to Big Almaty Lake (Zabugorshiki).
- 🧭
- The Maps button opens the coordinates of the OpenStreetMap point for “Три Медведя” (43.101761, 76.9436677). Kazakhstan.travel gives 43.15080, 76.90950 for Ayusai Gorge, which is about 6 km further north, inside the city; we do not use it (OpenStreetMap, Kazakhstan.travel).
- 🥾
- From the bears the path follows the Ayusai River upstream to the first waterfall, about 5–6 m high. Most guides give the distance as about 700 m (x-travels.ru, Zabugorshiki).
- 🎟️
- The gorge is inside a national park. Zabugorshiki lists a 2026 eco-post fee of about 649 tenge on foot and 1,298 tenge by car, paid by bank QR code (Zabugorshiki).
Sightings
- 201728 Apr
Added to OpenStreetMap
- 2017Jun
x-travels.ru photo
- 20186 Nov
MK: “Three Bears” spot
- 202022 Mar
Welcome.kz
- 20221 Feb
Zabugorshiki guide
- 202329 Jul
Welcome.kz (English)
- 20259 Jul
Last OSM edit
- 202626 Jan
WildTicket Asia
- 202628 Jul
Zabugorshiki, updated
- 202629 Sep
In SAU “When Sculptures Come Alive”
- 20267 Oct
In SAU “40 of the Most Loved Photos”
Every stamp links to the dated source. The one green stamp is x-travels.ru’s photo of the gorge entrance, which shows the bears among containers and yurts; it is dated by the June 2017 post and upload folder, not by camera data. Amber stamps are guides, map edits and reports that describe the bears as present. The newest are Zabugorshiki’s Russian and English guides, last updated on 27 and 28 July 2026. The photo at the top has no published date; the yellow leaves suggest autumn. The SAU stamps show the same picture again and say nothing about whether the bears are still there.
On the record
Водопады Аюсая
“Наш путь к водопадам начнем от входа в ущелье Аюсай, от знаменитой уже скульптуры трех медведей.”
“We start our way to the waterfalls at the entrance to Ayusai Gorge, at the now famous sculpture of three bears.” The Almaty hiking blog’s photo of the entrance carries the line “Статуи трех медведей на фото, чуть левее правого контейнера” (The statues of the three bears are in the photo, just left of the right container). The post was last updated in February 2026.
Путь на "Японку"
“Путь начинается чуть выше местечка Аюсай («Три медведя») в Большом Алматинском ущелье.”
“The path starts a little above the spot called Ayusai (“Three Bears”) in the Big Almaty Gorge.” By Mira Levina, on a walk up the “Japanese Road” trail above Almaty; the paper uses the sculpture’s name for the place itself.
Ущелье и водопады Аюсай
“У входа в ущелье посетителей встречают три медведя – нет, не настоящие, а всего лишь скульптура.”
“At the entrance to the gorge, visitors are greeted by three bears – no, not real ones, just a sculpture.” By Elvira Chalabova for the Almaty tour company’s travel guide. Its English page (Zhanna Mukhatzhanova, 29 July 2023) says the gorge “welcomes visitors with the sight of three bear sculptures.”
Водопады Аюсай: пеший поход в загадочное Медвежье ущелье
“Аюсай с казахского языка переводится как “Медвежье ущелье”, или “Медвежий лог” из-за обитающих здесь когда-то бурых тянь-шаньских медведей.”
“Ayusai translates from Kazakh as ‘Bear Gorge’, or ‘Bear Hollow’, because of the Tian Shan brown bears that once lived here.” By Aizhan Tugelbaeva. The article does not mention the sculpture; it is the source of the name fact in the Street Art Utopia caption.
Медвежье ущелье: водопады Аюсай
“Ориентир, от которого начинается настоящая тропа в узкую часть ущелья, — скульптура «Три медведя».”
“The landmark from which the real trail into the narrow part of the gorge begins is the ‘Three Bears’ sculpture.” From Zabugorshiki’s Russian-language guide to the gorge.
The facts
- Name
- “Три медведя” (Three Bears), also written “Три Медведя” (Zabugorshiki, Russian Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, MK Kazakhstan); “Three Bears sculpture group” in English (Zabugorshiki). OpenStreetMap first listed it in 2017 as “Медвежонок” (Bear cub) (OpenStreetMap) Checked
- Maker
- Not named in any source we found; nor is a commissioner Unconfirmed
- Year
- Not known. In place by June 2017: the map point was added on 28 April 2017 and x-travels.ru’s June 2017 photo shows the bears (OpenStreetMap, x-travels.ru) Checked
- Work
- A group of three bear figures (Welcome.kz, Zabugorshiki, WildTicket Asia); the photo above shows a tall bear standing upright with its forelegs held forward and a smaller bear on all fours beside it Checked
- Material
- Wood (WildTicket Asia, OpenStreetMap) Checked
- Place
- Entrance to Ayusai Gorge, off the Big Almaty Gorge, next to the Ayusai visitor center, Ile-Alatau National Park, Almaty, Kazakhstan (Zabugorshiki, x-travels.ru, Welcome.kz, Tengrinews) Checked
- Coordinates
- 43.101761, 76.9436677, from the OpenStreetMap point; Kazakhstan.travel’s point for the gorge (43.15080, 76.90950) lies about 6 km away, in the city (OpenStreetMap, Kazakhstan.travel) Reported
- Name of gorge
- Ayusai: “Bear Gorge” or “Bear Hollow” in Kazakh, after the Tian Shan brown bears that once lived there (Tengrinews, Russian Wikipedia, Welcome.kz) Checked
- Legend
- “According to local legend, a family of bears once lived near the waterfalls”, according to Zabugorshiki; no other source we found tells it (Zabugorshiki) Reported
- To the first fall
- About 700 m from the bears according to x-travels.ru, Zabugorshiki and English Wikipedia; Russian Wikipedia says 500 m, citing a source it marks as unreliable, and Zabugorshiki’s Russian guide gives “500-700 м”. We lean towards about 700 m along the path, which three of the sources give (x-travels.ru, Zabugorshiki, Wikipedia, Russian Wikipedia, Zabugorshiki) Conflicting
- Photo
- As published on Street Art Utopia; photographer and date not named. The figures match those in x-travels.ru’s 2017 photo of the gorge entrance Unconfirmed
- Status
- Seen July 2026: Zabugorshiki’s guides, updated on 27 and 28 July 2026, describe the bears at the entrance; WildTicket Asia does so in January 2026. The newest dated photo we found is from 2017, and we found no report of removal (Zabugorshiki, Zabugorshiki, WildTicket Asia) Unconfirmed
Related
- On Street Art Utopia: 40 of the Most Loved Photos on Street Art Utopia Right Now (7 October 2026), where the photo above appeared as no. 33, and the earlier When Sculptures Come Alive (9 Photos vol. 2) (29 September 2026), where it opened the post.
- The Myn Koz (“thousand eyes”) trail starts at the same visitor center, with modern petroglyphs of snow leopard, Tian Shan bear and lynx by the artist Sanzhar Zhubanov. Zabugorshiki
- The Ayusai waterfalls, with the route from the bears to the third fall. x-travels.ru
All sources (13)
This work
- x-travels.ru: “Водопады Аюсая”, 6 June 2017, last updated 12 February 2026. Route starts “from the now famous sculpture of three bears”; photo of the gorge entrance with the bears; the camp later replaced by a visitor center; about 700 m to the first fall.
- OpenStreetMap: node 4822399969, history, added 28 April 2017 as “Медвежонок”, last edited 9 July 2025. Name “Три Медведя”, tagged tourism=artwork, artwork_type=sculpture, material=wood; coordinates.
- Welcome.kz: “Ущелье и водопады Аюсай”, 22 March 2020, by Elvira Chalabova. Three bears, “just a sculpture”, greet visitors at the entrance.
- Welcome.kz: “Ayusai Waterfalls”, 29 July 2023, by Zhanna Mukhatzhanova. “The gorge welcomes visitors with the sight of three bear sculptures”, with the visitor center next to them. Same outlet as above, counted once.
- Zabugorshiki: “Медвежье ущелье: водопады Аюсай, поход в лес, как добраться”, 1 February 2022, updated 27 July 2026. The “Three Bears” sculpture as the landmark where the trail begins; “500-700 м” to the first fall; 2026 fees; Myn Koz trail.
- Zabugorshiki: “Day Hiking Tour to Bear Waterfall (Ayusay) from Almaty”, 12 February 2026, updated 28 July 2026. “The Three Bears sculpture group marks the entrance to the gorge”; local legend; visitor center since 2021. Same outlet as above, counted once.
- WildTicket Asia: “Ayusay River (tributary of the Big Almaty River)”, dated 26 January 2026 in the page data. “A wooden sculpture depicting three bears” at the gorge entrance.
- Russian Wikipedia: “Аюсай”, undated. Hikers use the sculpture group “Три медведя” as a reference point; 500 m to the waterfall.
- English Wikipedia: “Ayusai river falls”, undated. Path to the first falls from “the glade with the sculpture of bears”, about 700 m. Same outlet as above, counted once.
Context
- MK Kazakhstan: “Путь на "Японку"”, 6 November 2018, by Mira Levina. Calls the spot “Аюсай («Три медведя»)”; does not describe the sculpture.
- Tengrinews: “Водопады Аюсай: пеший поход в загадочное Медвежье ущелье”, 23 July 2021, by Aizhan Tugelbaeva. Meaning of the name; route from the visitor center at Kokshoky 1A; does not mention the sculpture.
- Sxodim: “Водопады Аюсай”, 20 July 2022. Route starts “from the famous sculpture of three bears”; the wording follows x-travels.ru and its photo is credited to x-travels.ru, so it is not counted separately.
- Kazakhstan.travel: “Ayusai Gorge (Bear Gorge)”, undated. Visitor center contacts and coordinates for the gorge, which point about 6 km north of the sculpture.
Artwork File · Last checked 8 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files