World Art Utopia

Turtle Rock

Turtle Rock, a huge granite outcrop with a rounded head and a ridged, shell-like back, rising above white yurts and autumn larches in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia.
Artwork FileGorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia

Turtle Rock

SeenSep 2025

Natural rock formation · Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia

Photo: Dan Nevill / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), as also published on Street Art Utopia.

Turtle Rock, Melkhii Khad in Mongolian, is a granite formation whose silhouette evokes a turtle, and it rises along the road leading to the village and Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. Source Checked From the rock, a trail leads to the Aryaval meditation centre. Source Checked

Seen Sep 2025: the newest dated photograph we found on Wikimedia Commons shows the rock on 30 September 2025. The photo above was taken on 28 September 2019. Source Checked

More photos

Turtle Rock in 1988 on a faded colour film photo: the granite head block and ridged back rising from a grassy slope, with a tiny figure below for scale.
1988 Close up on colour filmPhoto: Vicky van Dal / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Turtle Rock seen from the west in summer 2010: the orange granite head and back on a pine-covered slope above green bushes.
2010 The west side in summer, July 2010Photo: Marcin Konsek / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

💡 4 things to know

  1. An older name: Silver RockInsight Mongolia says Mongolians historically called the rock Möngöt Tsokhio or Möngöt Khad, “Silver Rock”; Mongolia Guide gives its old name as Mungut Khad. Source Source Checked
  2. A khan’s hidden treasureAccording to Insight Mongolia, the old name comes from a legend: Galdan Boshigt Khan of the Oirats, fleeing after heavy losses against the Manchu, is said to have hidden his gold and silver in a natural cavity on top of the rock. Source Reported
  3. Start of a temple walkA trail leads from the rock to the Aryaval Buddhist temple in a side valley; the Nomadays guide puts the walk at 30 minutes to an hour one way. Source Checked
  4. The park’s symbolHey Mongolia calls the boulder the symbol of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Beside the road from Ulaanbaatar into Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, in Erdene, Töv province, Mongolia. Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens Google Maps at the coordinates given for Turtle Rock on Wikidata (Q11371016).

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1988

    Photographed on film · Wikimedia Commons

  2. 201013 Jul

    Photographed from the west · Wikimedia Commons

  3. 20181 Oct

    Photographed beside a ger camp · Wikimedia Commons

  4. 201928 Sep

    Photographed above white yurts · Wikimedia Commons

  5. 202530 Sep

    Photographed in autumn · Wikimedia Commons

Green stamps mark dated photographs.

✅ The facts

Mongolian name
Мэлхий хад (Melkhii Khad) Source Checked
Former name
Möngöt Khad, “Silver Rock” (also spelled Mungut Khad) Source Source Checked
Rock
Granite Source Checked
Formation
Natural erosion over millions of years, according to Steppe Mongolia Source Reported
Height
24 metres (79 feet) according to Mongolia Guide, Insight Mongolia and Steppe Mongolia (approx.); about twenty metres according to Nomadays Source Source Conflicting
From Ulaanbaatar
58 km east (Insight Mongolia), 65 km (Travelhub Mongolia) or about 70 km northeast (Steppe Mongolia, Nomadays) Source Source Source Conflicting
Park
Gorkhi-Terelj National Park Source Checked
Protected area
Within the Khan Khentii protected area, according to Insight Mongolia and Travelhub Mongolia Source Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 4 November 2026. How we verify art