Ulagan Plateau and Katu-Yaryk

A difficult signature route to one of Altai's most dramatic descents.

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Why this ride

A difficult signature route to one of Altai's most dramatic descents. The road: Ulagan and Katu-Yaryk roads. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Aktash start

   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.

2. Red Gate stop

   The rock walls here are the colour of rust and dried blood, and the road squeezes between them through a gap barely wider than a truck. The Altai people and Russian travellers alike have called it the Red Gate, Krasnye Vorota, and it is the dramatic entrance to the road climbing from the Chuysky Trakt at Aktash up onto the Ulagan Plateau. The colour comes from iron and from cinnabar, the mercury ore that was mined near Aktash in the Soviet period, and the rocks glow most vividly in the low light of early morning and late afternoon.

   Aktash, about ten kilometres away, is a small, somewhat tired settlement that grew up around the mercury mine and the road. Beyond the Red Gate, the landscape changes completely. The road climbs onto a high plateau of larch forest, alpine meadows and lakes, with snowy peaks in the distance and the air growing cooler with every bend. This is the territory of the Telengits, one of the Turkic peoples of the Altai, and you will see their wooden houses, horses and sometimes yurts as you climb.

   The riding is the main attraction. The road from Aktash through the Red Gate to Ulagan is narrow, with tight bends and steep sections, and it has been progressively paved, though stretches of gravel, washboard and potholes remain. Beyond Ulagan, the road continues to the Katu-Yaryk pass, where it plunges down into the Chulyshman valley in one of the most famous descents in Russia, a series of steep, loose hairpins carved into the cliff. Check the current state of the road before you go, especially after rain.

   Services are limited. Aktash has fuel, a shop or two and simple cafes, and is the last reliable place to fill up before heading up onto the plateau. Ust-Ulagan, about forty kilometres further on, has some services, but beyond that, the Chulyshman valley is remote, with only small villages and guesthouses. Carry extra fuel if you plan to go all the way, along with water and food. Stop just beyond the gate, turn back, and look at the red rocks framing the valley below; it is one of those places that photographs never quite capture.

3. Ulagan stop

   Ust-Ulagan is a small village in the Altai highlands, scattered along a river in a wide, open valley, and it is the starting point of one of the most beautiful mountain roads in the republic. The surrounding country is a landscape of high, rolling pastures, larch woods and distant snowy ridges, where herders drive sheep and horses over summer grass. It is a place of long views and few buildings, and the air is thin and sharp.

   The people here are mostly Altaians, in particular the Telengits, a Turkic people with a tradition of herding and shamanism. You may see small shrines with coloured ribbons tied to trees, and horses grazing freely near the road. The local cuisine is simple and based on meat, dairy products and bread, with strong milk tea and a distilled drink made from fermented milk. Villages are small, and every passing traveller is noticed.

   The Ulagan Pass road leads west from here, climbing over the ridge toward the Teletskoye Lake region. It is a mountain road that rises through meadows and then into rocky terrain, with views back over the valley and of the peaks beyond. The surface is a mixture of asphalt and gravel, and the high section can be rough, with potholes, washouts and mud after rain. Snow can linger late in spring and return early in autumn. Cloud and fog can roll in quickly, cutting visibility on the descent.

   The nearby Katu-Yaryk pass is a different matter altogether, a notorious track that descends in tight serpentines on a narrow shelf above the Chulyshman valley, with long drops and little room for error. It is a challenging route for experienced riders and drivers and should not be attempted in wet weather or without good preparation. Many locals prefer to avoid it, and it is wise to ask before setting out.

   Ust-Ulagan has a few shops, simple guesthouses and cafés, but fuel is limited, so fill up in the larger towns before arriving. Mobile signals are patchy. The best time to ride is July to early September, when the road is dry and the pastures are green. Autumn brings golden larches, and winter closes the high routes with snow.

4. Pazyryk stop

   In a high, lonely valley on the Ulagan Plateau, a line of low stone mounds marks one of the great archaeological finds of the twentieth century. Here, around two and a half thousand years ago, a nomadic people of the Scythian world buried their chiefs in log chambers beneath piles of stones. Water seeped into the tombs and froze, and the permafrost preserved what was inside: horses with their saddles and harnesses, felt hangings, clothing, tattooed bodies, and a wool carpet with a pile so fine that it is still the oldest of its kind known. That carpet, the Pazyryk carpet, is now in the Hermitage in St Petersburg.

   The mounds were excavated by Soviet archaeologists in 1929 and again around 1950, and the finds transformed our understanding of the ancient steppe peoples, their art, and their connections with Persia and China. Today the site is quiet, with just the low stone heaps, a few signs and the wind blowing across the meadows. It takes imagination to see what lay beneath, but the setting, a broad valley among larch forest and mountains, makes it easy to understand why a people of horsemen would choose it as a place for their dead.

   The ride to Pazyryk follows the road from Aktash up onto the Ulagan Plateau, then branches off toward the Katu-Yaryk pass and the Chulyshman valley. The road is narrow, partly paved and partly gravel, with washboard sections, potholes and soft edges. It crosses rolling, open terrain with larch woods, lakes and meadows, and the views stretch to distant snowy peaks. Weather at this altitude can change quickly, with cold rain or even snow possible in summer. Bring warm layers.

   Ust-Ulagan, about fifteen kilometres away, has a shop, simple cafes and fuel that may or may not be available, so it is wise to fill up in Aktash before heading up. Beyond Pazyryk, the road continues to the edge of the plateau and the dramatic descent into the Chulyshman valley, which is remote and rough. Walk slowly between the mounds and feel the silence, broken only by the wind and the distant call of a raven; this is one of the most atmospheric places in the Altai.

5. Katu-Yaryk Pass finish · 1200 m

   The Katu-Yaryk Pass is one of those places that has a reputation before you arrive, and the reputation is earned. It lies on the track that links the high Ulagan plateau with the deep valley of the Chulyshman River, descending from the plateau edge to the canyon floor in a series of narrow, steep and exposed switchbacks cut into the rock face. Fuel is not available nearby.

   This is a track, not a road. The surface is gravel, rock and dirt, narrow in places, with a sheer drop on the outside of many bends, and there is often no room to pass an oncoming vehicle. It is a serious challenge for an adventure motorcycle, and a very bad idea on a road bike or in rain. Ride it slowly, in dry weather, ideally with a companion, and walk the worst corners first if you have doubts. Many riders choose to ride down and decide there whether to return the same way, since the climb back can be just as demanding. Summer and early autumn are the usable season, and the lower valley can be warm while the plateau stays cool.

   The region carries a cultural weight that has nothing to do with engineering. The Chulyshman valley is a remote corner of the Altai, home to small communities of Altai and Telengit people who have traditionally herded and hunted here, and reaching the valley floor was for a long time very difficult. The track itself was built to link the plateau and the valley, and it follows an old path used by shepherds and hunters.

   The scenery is the reward. Looking down from the top of the descent, you see the deep green canyon of the Chulyshman, with the Akkurum waterfall area and the great cliff walls beyond, while upstream lie the cold, grassy meadows of the Ulagan plateau. Larch forest covers the slopes, and the air smells of pine and cold water.

   Bring spare fuel, water, tools and warm clothes, and tell someone your route. Mobile coverage is poor, and recovery would be slow and expensive. Treat the pass as an adventure, not a race.

Where this sits

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