Mongolia
Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Singing dunes, dinosaur cliffs and two-humped camels in the emptiest corner of Asia's great desert.
The South Gobi is Mongolia's great desert country: mostly gravel plain and bare ridges rather than endless sand, crossed by jeep between ger camps and herders' camels. Dalanzadgad, the provincial capital, is the airstrip and supply town, and the sights fan out across Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park and beyond. The two headliners are the Khongoryn Els dunes, a wall of sand that hums in the wind, and the Flaming Cliffs at Bayanzag, where the first dinosaur eggs known to science were found.
Suggested stay
3–6 days
Language
Mongolian
Currency
MNT
Timezone
UTC+8
Why you'll love Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Singing sands the Khongoryn Els dunes rise high above a green river oasis and boom underfoot as you slide down their crests
Dinosaur country the red Flaming Cliffs and the wider South Gobi have yielded eggs, nests and skeletons that changed palaeontology
Nomad life Bactrian camel herders still move with their animals, and a visit to a family ger means milk tea and dried curd
Space and silence hours of open plain between sights, then night skies so dark the Milky Way casts a glow
Best time to visit
May-Sep
Warm · 22-31° days
43.572° N, 104.426° E
UTC+8 · Asia/Ulaanbaatar
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Weather & when to go to Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Sep
Conditions Jan-Feb Cold · Mar Cold & dusty · Apr Windy & dusty · May Warm · Jun-Aug Hot · Sep Warm days · Oct Cool · Nov-Dec Cold
Watch for Dec-Feb extreme cold risk
Cards tinted by verified verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
November to February is bitterly cold, with nights far below freezing, and many ger camps close. Spring can bring strong winds and dust storms before the calmer months settle in. May to September is the season, though midsummer days in the dunes get very hot.
Top things to do in Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
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Khongoryn Els - climb and slide the singing dunes
scenic adventure 👍 PopularMongolia's biggest dune field runs for around 100 km beneath the Gobi Altai ranges. Scramble up the tallest crest late in the afternoon, when the light turns gold, and listen for the low hum as the sand slides. A strip of green along the Khongor river marks its northern edge.
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Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs) - where dinosaur eggs were first found
history scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedRoy Chapman Andrews named these red sandstone bluffs for their glow at sunset, and his expedition found the first recognised dinosaur eggs here in 1923. Walk the eroded rim and gullies at dusk; the fossils now sit in museums, but the landscape is the story.
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Yolyn Am - walk the ice gorge of Gurvan Saikhan
nature wildlife scenic 👍 PopularA narrow valley cuts into the Zuun Saikhan mountains, its shaded floor once holding thick ice well into summer, though it now often melts early. Walk or ride a horse up the gorge, watching for lammergeiers overhead and ibex on the cliffs.
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Bactrian camels - ride with a herding family
culture arts adventure 👍 PopularNear the dunes, herders saddle their two-humped camels for an hour or a half-day out onto the sand. It is slow, swaying and unforgettable, and usually ends with milk tea and aaruul, dried curd, in the family's ger.
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Khermen Tsav - the Gobi's remote canyon country
off beaten path scenicFar to the west, a maze of red and orange canyons and badlands rewards the long, rough drive with total solitude. It is a serious detour on unmarked tracks, only for longer trips with an experienced driver.
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South Gobi Museum - Dalanzadgad's natural history
historyThe provincial museum in Dalanzadgad has dinosaur fossils and eggs, stuffed Gobi wildlife and displays on herding life. A useful hour on arrival day, before heading into the park.
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Gobi night skies - stargazing from a ger camp
nature wildlife scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedWith no towns for hundreds of kilometres and dry, clear air, the sky from the camps is among the darkest you will ever see. Step out of the ger after the generator stops.
Best areas to stay in Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Dalanzadgad
Fly-in visitors $$Dusty provincial capital and airstrip town
Explore hotels in Dalanzadgad →
Gurvan Saikhan ger camps
First desert night $$Tourist ger camps below the mountains
Explore hotels in Gurvan Saikhan ger camps →
Khongoryn Els ger camps
Most visitors $$Camps facing the great dunes
Explore hotels in Khongoryn Els ger camps →
Bayanzag ger camps
Sunset at the cliffs $$Quiet camps near the Flaming Cliffs
Explore hotels in Bayanzag ger camps →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Getting to & around Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Getting there
Fly from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad, or drive south over a long day or a multi-day jeep tour
Flight
Dalanzadgad Airport (DLZ)
Domestic flights from Ulaanbaatar take about an hour and a half and land just outside Dalanzadgad. Most visitors are met by their tour driver; the park and its camps are a further hour or more by jeep.
Drive
Dalanzadgad
A paved road runs south from Ulaanbaatar, a long day's drive; most tours take two or three days via the White Stupa cliffs of Tsagaan Suvarga
Coach
Dalanzadgad
Daily long-distance buses run from Ulaanbaatar's Dragon bus station, most of a day on the road; from Dalanzadgad you still need a hired jeep
Getting around
Jeep with driver
The only practical way to see the Gobi: a Russian van or 4WD with a driver who knows the tracks, usually with a guide
TBC
Camel or horse
Hired from herders at the dunes and at Yolyn Am for short rides, not for getting between sights
TBC
Taxi
A few taxis work within Dalanzadgad, handy for the airport and museum only
TBC
Day trips from Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Yolyn Am
Half dayMountain ice gorge
The closest of the big sights to town: a narrow gorge in the Zuun Saikhan range, walked or ridden on horseback, with a small natural history museum at the park entrance.
Getting there
car | tour
About 1 hr west of Dalanzadgad by jeep or tour
Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs)
Full dayDinosaur fossil cliffs
Red sandstone bluffs where Roy Chapman Andrews found dinosaur eggs in 1923, best at sunset, with a stand of saxaul scrub forest nearby.
Getting there
car | tour
About 2 hr northwest of Dalanzadgad by jeep or tour
Khongoryn Els
1-2 daysSinging sand dunes
Too far for a comfortable return in a day, so plan at least a night in a camp at the dunes for the sunset climb and a camel ride.
Getting there
car | tour
Several hours west of Dalanzadgad by jeep or tour
Tsagaan Suvarga
1-2 daysEroded limestone cliffs
The White Stupa, a striped escarpment of pink, white and ochre cliffs, is usually taken as an overnight stop on the drive between Ulaanbaatar and the South Gobi.
Getting there
car | tour
Several hours north toward Ulaanbaatar by jeep or tour
A little history of Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
Around 70-80 million years ago the South Gobi was a land of rivers, lakes and dunes where dinosaurs lived and died in sandstorms that buried them whole. That is why the region is one of the world's richest fossil beds, and why its cliffs have produced complete skeletons, eggs and nests. The American Museum of Natural History expeditions led by Roy Chapman Andrews in the 1920s made Bayanzag famous, and joint Mongolian, Polish and Soviet expeditions followed, among them the discovery of the Fighting Dinosaurs, a velociraptor locked with a protoceratops.
Above ground, this has always been herders' country. Nomadic families have moved camels, goats and sheep between wells and seasonal pastures for millennia, through the Xiongnu era, the Mongol Empire and the collectivised herds of the socialist period. Dalanzadgad grew as the administrative centre of the South Gobi province, and since the 2000s vast copper, gold and coal deposits have made the region the heart of Mongolia's mining economy.
Dinosaurs including velociraptor, protoceratops and oviraptor live in the region, their remains preserved in its sandstones
Chinggis Khaan unites the Mongol tribes; the Gobi's herders become part of the Mongol Empire
Roy Chapman Andrews leads the first Central Asiatic Expedition into the Gobi
The expedition finds the first recognised dinosaur eggs at Bayanzag, which Andrews names the Flaming Cliffs
A Polish-Mongolian expedition uncovers the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil at Tugrugiin Shiree
Copper and gold at Oyu Tolgoi and coal at Tavan Tolgoi turn the South Gobi into Mongolia's mining heartland
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Limited
Wifi
Limited
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+976
Extreme cold risk in this window; check current conditions before you go.
The months our climate read flags to avoid: the wettest, lowest-rated weather of the year.
FAQs about Gobi Desert (Dalanzadgad)
▸ When is the best time to visit the Gobi Desert?
May to September is the season, with ger camps open and the tracks easiest to travel. Midsummer brings hot days in the dunes but cool nights. November to February is bitterly cold and most camps close, while spring can be windy and dusty.
▸ Do I need a tour to visit the Gobi?
In practice, yes. There is no public transport to the sights, the tracks are unmarked and distances are long, so almost everyone travels with a jeep and a local driver, usually with a guide who can also translate with herding families.
▸ Is the Gobi all sand dunes?
No. Most of the Gobi is gravel plain, rocky ridges and dry steppe dotted with scrub. Sand dunes cover only a small part, with Khongoryn Els the largest and most visited field.
▸ Where do you sleep in the Gobi?
Mostly in tourist ger camps: round felt tents with beds and a stove, plus a shared shower and toilet block and a dining ger. Some are simple and some genuinely comfortable. Dalanzadgad has hotels, and some tours include a night with a herding family.
▸ How long do you need in the Gobi?
Three days is the minimum if you fly to Dalanzadgad and back, enough for Yolyn Am, the dunes and the Flaming Cliffs. Overland from Ulaanbaatar, most loops take five or six days, and many continue on to Kharkhorin and central Mongolia.