CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
The stops in between: Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al, Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau and back through Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Mongolia into Russia - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Aral Tolgoi sits on a bend of open ground in the Altai of western Mongolia, in the province of Bayan-Ulgii, where the land climbs steadily toward the borders with China and Russia. The name has the sound of a place: tolgoi means a hill or head, and aral an island, so think of a rise standing out in flat, braided ground, perhaps once surrounded by channels of the river nearby. It is part of the same ancient story as the petroglyph sites that lie along these valleys.
Read the complete Aral Tolgoi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Aral Tolgoi is where the day begins. Next is Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al.
The Mongolian Altai does not look like the landscape of a rock-art gallery. It looks like open ground, grey and gold in the light, with snow mountains standing far off along the border of China and Russia. And yet near here, in the far west of Bayan-Ulgii province, the rocks hold thousands of petroglyphs, some of them thought to be many thousands of years old. Tsagaan Salaa and Baga Oigor are the best known. Aral Tolgoi is a neighbouring part of the same inscribed group.
Read the complete Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al comes up about 92 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau.
The Ukok Plateau is where Russia runs out of room. At around two thousand meters, in the far south of the Altai Republic, a wide cold steppe lies pinned between the borders of Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia, with snow peaks on the horizon and permafrost under the grass. It is part of the Golden Mountains of Altai, a UNESCO site listed in 1998, and the Russian authorities named it a Quiet Zone to protect the landscape and the traditions of the people who live and herd animals here.
Read the complete Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 180 km into the recorded legs you reach Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau. Next is back through Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al, late in the day. Next is Aral Tolgoi.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Aral Tolgoi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Aral Tolgoi. That is the ride.
Aral Tolgoi → Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al → Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok Plateau → back through Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al → Aral Tolgoi is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.