Top 10 Volcanoes in Mongolia
Mongolia's volcanic heritage sits at the very edge of scientific awareness, even among dedicated volcanologists. The country's wide, empty steppe conceals lava fields that look geologically adolescent beside the ancient granites of central Mongolia. Walk across them and you notice: the basalt is too fresh, too rough underfoot, the flow lobes too sharply defined against the grass. Some of these flows erupted fewer than 8,000 years ago, making them Holocene features in one of the world's most landlocked and thinly populated countries.
The Khorgo Volcanic Field
Khorgo (Хорго) is Mongolia's most famous and most accessible volcanic site, located in Arkhangai Province some 480 km southwest of Ulaanbaatar. The main crater rises around 200 m above the surrounding steppe and drops roughly 100 m from rim to floor — a well-preserved bowl of dark scoria that sheds water efficiently even during the brief summer rains. The surrounding lava field covers approximately 1,800 km² and includes multiple vents, pressure ridges, and collapse features that speak of prolonged activity rather than a single eruption.
The Lava Tube at Khorgo
The most remarkable feature at Khorgo is not the crater but the lava tube beneath it. Lava tubes form when the outer surface of a flowing basalt stream solidifies while molten rock continues flowing inside, eventually draining out to leave a hollow conduit. Khorgo's main tube is over 100 m long and reaches 15 m in height at its widest point. Because it sits below the permafrost zone in winter, ice forms on the tube floor and persists through summer — meaning visitors can descend into a cave and touch ice in July at a latitude of roughly 48°N in a landlocked steppe. Local guides offer this as part of structured visits to the Khorgo–Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park.
Uran Togoo (Уран-Тогоо)
Uran Togoo, about 100 km northeast of Khorgo also in Arkhangai Province, is a near-perfect scoria cone rising to 1,667 m above sea level — roughly 200 m above the surrounding valley floor. The crater is about 200 m in diameter and clearly defined, with a small pond at its base during wet years. The surrounding lava field is slightly older than Khorgo's and shows greater weathering, but the flow structures remain impressive. The name Uran Togoo means approximately "artful pot" in Mongolian, a reference to the crater's clean circular form.
Shiliin Bogd
Shiliin Bogd, located in Dornogovi Province in southeastern Mongolia close to the Chinese border, is a very different expression of Mongolian volcanism. It is a flat shield-like structure rather than a steep cone, and its summit at 1,778 m carries significance for both geology and Mongolian shamanic tradition — it is one of the most sacred mountains in the country. The basalt flows around Shiliin Bogd extend across the Gobi steppe in thin sheets and are thought to be among the youngest in southeastern Mongolia.
Залаа толгой and Босгын тогоо
These two smaller cones in the Arkhangai Province field are less studied than Khorgo but form part of the same eruptive system. Залаа толгой (Zalaa tolgoi, meaning "head of the chain") sits at the margin of the main lava field and shows evidence of multiple eruptive phases. Босгын тогоо (Bosgiin togoo, "threshold pot") is a compact scoria cone whose crater rim commands a view across the Orkhon valley toward distant snow-capped ranges. Neither has significant visitor infrastructure, but both are reachable on horseback or with a 4WD vehicle from the town of Tsetserleg.
Галт уул — the Generic Mongolian Term
Галт уул (Galt uul) simply means "volcano" in Mongolian and appears on maps where the specific local name has not been formally assigned to a vent. Several unnamed scoria cones and maar features in the Arkhangai and Uvurkhangai provinces carry this generic designation, pointing to how much of Mongolia's volcanic landscape remains formally uncatalogued.
Geological Setting
Mongolia's volcanoes are intraplate features — they form not at a plate margin but in the interior of the Eurasian continent, likely above a mantle plume or rift zone associated with the Baikal Rift System stretching northward into Russia. The connection to the Baikal Rift explains why the lava compositions are alkali-rich olivine basalts similar to those found in the East African Rift rather than the andesitic magmas typical of subduction zones.
Visiting the Khorgo–Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park
The national park encompasses both Khorgo volcano and the beautiful Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur (White Lake), a crater-fed lake about 16 km long and 4 km wide at 2,060 m elevation. The combination of volcanic and lacustrine scenery makes this one of Mongolia's premier natural destinations. Entry fees are modest. Ger camps near the lake provide accommodation from June through September; outside these months, night temperatures drop below -10°C even in early autumn. The drive from Ulaanbaatar takes around eight hours on partially paved roads.
Flora and Wildlife
The fresh lava fields around Khorgo create microhabitats quite different from the surrounding steppe. Mosses and lichens colonize crevices first; over centuries they are succeeded by dwarf shrubs and eventually by full steppe grass species. The transition zones host a high diversity of invertebrates. Argali (wild sheep) have been observed grazing near the crater rim at Khorgo. The lake at Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur is an important staging site for bar-headed geese and other migratory waterfowl.
Explore on the map
Mongolia's volcanic sites are scattered across vast distances, making the interactive map an essential planning tool. Locate Khorgo, Uran Togoo, Shiliin Bogd, and the smaller cones of Arkhangai Province, then use elevation filters to distinguish the highland fields from the Gobi steppe vents. If you are planning a long-distance journey into the Mongolian interior, see Mongolia on the map to orient yourself before departure.