North Ossetia Three Gorges

Multiple mountain gorges with towers, cliffs and strong route variety.

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Why this ride

Multiple mountain gorges with towers, cliffs and strong route variety. The road: A164 and gorge roads. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Vladikavkaz start

   Vladikavkaz means rule the Caucasus, which tells you what the Russians thought of it when they built a fortress here in 1784. It stands on the Terek river where the mountains meet the plain, capital of North Ossetia, and from the broad avenues you can see the snow-covered chain of the central Caucasus on a clear day. It is a calm, orderly city with a colonial look, with tree-lined streets, a long riverside promenade and a scattering of old merchant houses.

   This is the northern end of the Georgian Military Highway. The road was created to give Russia a safe route through the mountains to its new Georgian possessions, and Vladikavkaz was the gateway, where convoys gathered before heading into the gorges. The Ossetians who live in this region are an Iranian-speaking people with their own proud culture, with traditions of feasting, toasts and stone tower villages. Ossetian pies, with cheese, potato or beef fillings, are a regional speciality, and are usually ordered in threes, with a toast to the Almighty over the first.

   The ride south follows the Terek into the Darial gorge, a spectacular narrow defile with vertical cliffs, and then climbs to the border near Upper Lars. The scenery is tremendous, with castle-like ruins on crags, but the road is busy with trucks and often troubled by landslides and avalanches, particularly in spring. Border crossing rules for foreigners have changed several times in recent years, so check the current position before planning to cross. Even without crossing, the valley road is worth a day.

   Vladikavkaz and the nearby town of Nogir have fuel and basic services, and the city has hotels, cafes and bike-friendly guesthouses. Before heading into the gorge, fill up, since stations are fewer. Summer is the best season, with warm days and clear mountains, while winter brings snow and closures. Pack warm layers and be ready for sudden weather in the gorge, and carry your documents at all times, since checkpoints are common.

2. Karmadon Gorge stop

   On the evening of 20 September 2002, a hanging glacier high above the Genaldon valley broke away and came down the gorge as a torrent of ice, rock and mud, burying everything in its path for kilometres. Among the dead was the actor and director Sergei Bodrov Jr., who was filming here with his crew, and his loss turned the disaster into a national tragedy. Today the Karmadon Gorge is quiet again, but the scars of the Kolka glacier collapse are still visible in the shape of the valley floor, and there is a memorial by the road.

   The gorge cuts deep into the northern flank of the Caucasus south of Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, with Mount Kazbek and its glaciers hidden in the clouds above. Steep grass slopes rise to grey rock walls, the river runs milky with glacial silt, and old Ossetian stone towers stand on the spurs. Karmadon was once known for its hot springs, which bubbled up in the valley floor and fed a small resort that the 2002 flow destroyed. Some springs still steam here and there, and locals come to bathe. In the neighbouring valley lies Dargavs, the medieval city of the dead, a hillside of stone crypts that is one of the strangest sights in the Caucasus.

   The riding in from Gizel and the Vladikavkaz side is short but scenic, climbing up through the foothills on a road that is paved for much of its length, then narrows and roughens as the gorge closes in. Expect potholes, loose stones and occasional rockfall, as well as livestock wandering across the road. Late spring to early autumn is the window; snow and ice make the upper reaches tricky in winter, and summer thunderstorms can bring mudslides.

   There are few services in the gorge itself, apart from small guesthouses and perhaps a roadside stall selling cheese or honey. Gizel, about twenty kilometres away, has a shop and fuel, and Vladikavkaz has everything. Bring food and water. Try the Ossetian pies if you see them, round flatbreads filled with cheese, potato or meat, which are eaten everywhere in the republic and are a perfect riding lunch. Pause by the memorial and look up the valley; the mountains here are beautiful, and they demand respect.

3. Kurtat Gorge stop

   Stone towers are the signature of the Kurtat Gorge. The valley of the Fiagdon River runs south from the plains of North Ossetia into the high Caucasus, and along its slopes stand the fortified towers, crypts and cliff fortresses of the Ossetian clans who lived here for centuries, guarding their pastures and feuding among themselves. The most dramatic is the Dzivgis cave fortress, a wall of stone built into a shallow cave high in a cliff face, where villagers sheltered in times of danger. Walk up to it if you can; the view down the valley is worth the climb.

   Ossetians trace their descent from the Alans, an Iranian-speaking people who once controlled much of the steppe and the northern Caucasus, and who converted to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. In the gorge stands a modern Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Assumption, set dramatically on a slope near the village of Khidikus, along with old shrines and sacred groves that still play a part in local life. In the summer, families come up from the cities to picnic and spend time in their ancestral villages, and the gorge fills with smoke from barbecues and the sound of Ossetian music.

   The road up the gorge is paved for most of the way, but narrows as it climbs, with tight bends, rough patches, and sections where rockfall or washouts are common after rain. Traffic is light, apart from weekend visitors and cattle on the road. The Fiagdon river, clear and cold, runs alongside, and the slopes are covered in beech and birch forest giving way to high meadows. In autumn the colours are spectacular, and the light in late afternoon turns the towers golden.

   Up the valley there are small guesthouses and cafes in Verkhny Fiagdon, a resort village in the valley, and you may find fuel there, but Alagir, about sixteen kilometres away, is a safer bet for fuel and supplies. Try local honey and the famous Ossetian pies, and if offered, a glass of araka, the local spirit, but only when the riding is done for the day. Then sit and look at the towers, standing as they have for centuries, guarding a valley that still feels a world away from the plains below.

4. Digor Gorge stop

   The Digor Gorge belongs to the Digor people, a branch of the Ossetians with their own dialect, sometimes considered a separate language, and their own history and pride. The valley of the Urukh River cuts deep into the Caucasus in the west of North Ossetia, and the scenery here is among the most dramatic in the republic. At its lower end the river has carved a narrow canyon through limestone, with sheer walls and the road clinging to a ledge above the water, before the valley opens into a basin of green pastures surrounded by snow-capped peaks.

   The upper gorge is dotted with villages, old stone towers and family crypts, some abandoned and some still lived in. In the village of Zadalesk, a tower is linked to a legend about a woman who saved her people's children after an invasion, a story that every Digor child knows. The valley is also rich in wildlife, with chamois and tur on the high slopes, golden eagles above, and wildflowers in the meadows in early summer. The glaciers at the head of the valley feed the river, which runs grey and fast, thundering over rocks.

   The road up the Digor Gorge is an adventure. It is paved at first, then narrows, roughens and turns to gravel in places, with tight bends, steep drops and some single-lane sections where you have to pull aside for oncoming vehicles. Rockfalls are common, especially after rain or during the spring thaw, so take it slowly and watch for debris on the road. The canyon section is particularly impressive, and the views open out as you climb into the upper valley. Parts of the valley lie close to the Georgian border and may be in a border zone, so check whether a permit is required.

   Supplies are thin on the ground. You will find guesthouses and small shops in some villages, but for fuel and supplies, Chikola, about forty kilometres back down the valley, is the nearest town. Fill up before heading in, carry water and food, and allow plenty of time. The Digor Gorge rewards patience: the deeper you go, the wilder and more beautiful it gets, and the sense of having reached a remote, proud corner of the Caucasus is unforgettable.

5. Back to Vladikavkaz finish

Where this sits

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