Zapolyarny means beyond the polar circle, and the town does not apologize for the name. It lies at nearly seventy degrees north, close to the Norwegian border in the Pechenga district of Murmansk Oblast, and it was built in the 1950s around nickel mines and smelters in the hills. The town has about eighteen thousand people, a tidy Soviet layout, and the strange, industrial beauty of a place where mine tailings and tundra meet. The nickel works in the area are among the largest in the north, and the sulfur from the smelters has left the surrounding hills stripped of trees, a scar that is visible for miles.
Its best-known neighbor is a hole in the ground. The Kola Superdeep Borehole, drilled by Soviet scientists from 1970 and reaching more than twelve kilometers by 1989, is the deepest artificial point on earth. It lies a short distance from town, and the site is now abandoned, with a rusted, welded cap over the shaft and a ruined research building. The project never reached its target and was closed in the 1990s, but it taught geologists a great deal about the crust, including the surprise of finding water far deeper than expected.
Other sights give a different sense of the region. Pechenga Monastery, founded in the sixteenth century by the monk Tryphon, was once the northernmost in the world, and the settlement of Pechenga lies about eighteen kilometers away. To the north, the Barents Sea coast, with the Rybachy and Sredny peninsulas, offers rocky shores and views of the Arctic Ocean.
For riders, the roads are generally good near the town, but the border zone is regulated, and permits are required for areas near the frontier. Check what documents you need well in advance. Weather is the main factor, with strong winds, sudden fog and snow outside midsummer. The best period is late June to early September, when the sun stays up for much of the night.
Fuel stations and supermarkets are available in the town, and it is the best place to stock up before heading to the coast. Distances are long, and services beyond are scarce. At midnight in July, the light is low and golden across the tundra, and the whole landscape looks like a painting.