Chemal village was founded in 1885. It is located 100 km to the south from Gorno-Altaisk and it is situated on the banks of the rivers Chemal and Katun . It is widely known as a health resort, there is a famous health resort which is called “Chemal”. There are a lot of hostels, camping sites and tourist complexes in Chemalsky District.

There is Chemal hydro electric power station and Chemal water reservoir near the estuary of the river Chemal. There are a lot of tourist attractions in vicinity of Chemal: the church and monastery on the island of Patmos, goat trail (from this trail you can see how the murky green waters of  Katun run into the brown waters of Chemal, which flow 50 metres parallel, not merging into one big stream) and the “Sartapkay’s Gate” on the Katun river.

The weather in Chemal, like everywhere in the mountains, is not always stable. There can be changes in temperature. The climate is extremely continental with a warm summer (the temperature in July is about 18°C). Steady warm and sunny weather is typical for August. Winter is quite cold and with little snow.

You can get to Chemal only by automobile transport, driving along Chuya Highway to the village Ust-Sema and further to the south along Chemal Highway. You can also get by train to Barnaul or Biysk, but there you have to take a bus.

The time difference with Moscow is +4 hours.