Apatity takes its name from apatite, the pale green mineral rich in phosphate that was found in the Khibiny Mountains in the late 1920s. The find, led by the geologist Alexander Fersman and his team, started a mining boom that created towns in the tundra, and Apatity, which became a city in 1966, grew as the base for the processing works. It sits on the edge of Lake Imandra, with the dark, flat-topped Khibiny rising to the north, and has the plain, practical look of a Soviet town, with big apartment blocks and long straight streets.
The Khibiny are the real draw. These old mountains, rounded and cut by glaciers, rise to about twelve hundred metres, with deep valleys, boulder fields and lakes in hollows, and they hold one of the richest collections of rare minerals in the world. Kirovsk, twelve kilometres away, is the little mining town at their foot, with a ski resort on the slopes of Mount Aikuaivenchorr and a polar-alpine botanical garden that is the northernmost in Europe. The Sami called the mountains Umptek, and legends of their sacred places remain.
On the road, expect a quiet, open landscape of low birch, tundra and lakes. The main highway between Apatity and Kirovsk is decent, but the side roads and tracks that climb toward the mountains are gravel, rutted and often wet. The season is short, from June to September, and weather can swing from warm sun to sleet within an hour. In late summer, the first frosts turn the tundra red, and in winter the aurora shows over town on clear nights. Midnight sun in June is a bonus, though the mosquitoes can be tough.
Apatity has about sixty thousand people, so fuel, food and repairs are easy to find, and Kirovsk offers more. Before heading into the hills, fill up and carry water. Local food runs to fish, reindeer and cloudberry jam, and a pot of tea in a cafe is welcome after the cold. Foreign riders should check what is currently allowed before planning a trip here.