Chuysky Trakt Central Altai

The core Chuysky Trakt, with passes, river cliffs and open steppe.

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Why this ride

The core Chuysky Trakt, with passes, river cliffs and open steppe. The road: R256. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Onguday start

   Onguday sits on the Chuysky Trakt in the central Altai, a village of several thousand people stretched along the road with the Katun River nearby, and it is the main service stop between the Seminsky Pass and the high steppe further south. The Altai people, a Turkic-speaking group with their own traditions of shamanism and, more recently, of a local faith called Burkhanism, are the heart of the population here, and the villages show their culture in carved wooden figures, festival grounds and yurt-style cafes.

   The landscape around is a classic Altai mix: forested ridges, wide river valleys and, to the south, snow-capped peaks along the Mongolian frontier. The road runs through open valleys of larch and pine, with cliffs of pale stone. The nearby Seminsky Pass, at about 1,717 meters, is a notable high point of the highway, with a long, gently winding climb through spruce forest and a view from the top. South of Onguday, the road climbs again over Chike-Taman, a pass of about 1,295 meters built in the 1960s that offers sweeping views, before dropping toward Aktash.

   It is an exciting road to ride, though it needs attention. Hairpins and drops, narrow bridges and long grades are common, and the pavement can show frost cracks and patches. Trucks heading to Mongolia use the road, and tourist buses fill it in July and August, so passing demands patience. Cows, sheep and horses wander onto the road without warning, and the weather can change from sun to snow in an hour, even in summer. A warm layer and waterproofs are always wise.

   Onguday has fuel stations, shops, guesthouses and cafes, and it is the last place with a wide choice for a good way south, so fill up here. Local food includes lamb dishes, dumplings, and dairy products, and roadside stands sell honey, nuts and berries. The best time to ride is June to early September, with July the warmest, though the nights are cool. Early autumn brings golden larches, and winter closes many side roads. Always check the forecast, since sudden storms can cause rockfall on mountain sections.

2. Inya stop

   Inya is a small village on the Chuysky Trakt, the great road that runs from Biysk across the Altai Mountains to the Mongolian border, and it sits right on the banks of the Katun, the turquoise river that drains the glaciers of Mount Belukha. An old suspension bridge spans the river here, swaying slightly in the wind, and walking out onto it with the water rushing milky green below is the classic way to break a ride. The village has about two thousand people and the slow, practical feel of a settlement that lives by the road and the river.

   A few kilometres downstream, the Chuya River joins the Katun in a confluence of two different colours of water, the grey-white Chuya meeting the bright Katun and running side by side for a while before mixing. Close by, on a rock face beside the road, are the petroglyphs of Kalbak-Tash, thousands of images carved over millennia, from Stone Age hunters to Turkic warriors, showing deer, ibex, horses and strange figures. It is one of the richest rock art sites in Siberia, and you can walk among them in a few minutes from the road.

   The Chuysky Trakt is one of the world's great motorcycling roads, and the section around Inya is among its best. The road follows the Katun through a deep valley, with sweeping bends, rocky cliffs and views of the river at every turn. Further east it climbs toward the high, dry steppe of the Kurai and Chuya basins, with snowy peaks of the North Chuya Range on the horizon. The surface is generally good, but watch for trucks, tourist buses and livestock. Summer is the main season; snow and ice arrive early at altitude.

   Inya has a shop, simple cafes and guesthouses, but fuel is a question. Onguday, about forty-seven kilometres back toward Biysk, is the nearest larger village with reliable fuel, and Aktash further east is the other option. Fill up whenever you can along the Trakt. Try the local Altai honey, sold at roadside stalls, and a bowl of hot soup in one of the cafes. Then walk out on the bridge and watch the river; there are few better places to feel the power of the mountains.

3. Aktash finish

   Aktash is a small village on the Chuya Highway, the road that runs from Novosibirsk through the Altai mountains toward the Mongolian border and is often named by Russian riders as the finest motorcycle road in the country. The name means white stone in the Turkic languages of the area, and the village sits where the Chuya river runs out of a deep valley between peaks that wear snow from autumn into early summer. About three thousand people live here, enough to keep a shop, a small café or two and a petrol station going.

   The surroundings are the attraction. The Chuya Highway follows the river upward through gorges, then across the open Kurai steppe farther on, while the high Altai ridges stand off to the south, tipped with ice. The road's surface has been improved over the years, though patches of frost heave and potholes remain, and the bends are the long, open sort that suit a loaded bike well. Cloud, wind and rain can all arrive within an hour. Summer is warm in the valleys but freezing at the top of the passes, and from October frost and snow become a risk.

   The history of the road is old. The Chuya Tract was a trade route for caravans heading from Siberia to Mongolia, and tea, silk and furs travelled along it. In the early twentieth century it was widened for carts and later for motor vehicles, and today it carries trucks and tourists to the Mongolian border at Tashanta. Aktash also had a mercury mine and processing in the twentieth century, a reminder that the Altai mountains are rich in minerals. The region holds many ancient burial mounds and rock carvings, including those at Kalbak-Tash, which lie within a short ride and record the passage of nomads over thousands of years.

   Treat fuel with care. Stations are spaced out along the valley, but a few have been known to run dry, so fill up whenever you see a pump. Simple guesthouses and cafés serve hot soup, dumplings and tea, and the people are hospitable. Altai honey, sold at roadside stalls, is a good thing to carry in the tank bag.

Where this sits

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