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.
On the way it passes Landscapes of Dauria, Mongol Daguur SPNA, Forest steppe part of Daursky SNBR and back through Mongol Daguur SPNA. It crosses from Russia into Mongolia - carry ID and check the toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 38 km this is Chita to Dauria Reserve, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Dauria is a grassland that does not care about borders. Here, where Russia's Zabaykalsky region meets Mongolia and China, the steppe rolls away in pale gold waves toward the horizon, broken by salt lakes and low hills. The name on this point stands for two Russian reserves, the Daursky Biosphere Reserve and the Valley of Dzeren, which together with the Mongolian reserves nearby form a protected landscape recognised by UNESCO in 2017. Dzeren is the Mongolian gazelle, a pale, fast antelope, and the valley is named after the herds that come and go across the frontier in search of better grass.
Read the complete Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R is where the day begins. Next is Landscapes of Dauria.
Dauria is the great steppe that straddles the border between Russia's Zabaykalsky region and northeastern Mongolia, and it is one of the last places on earth where you can see a grassland ecosystem working on its own terms. UNESCO listed the landscapes of Dauria in 2017 as a joint Russian and Mongolian site, recognising the importance of its steppe, wetlands and wildlife. The scale is vast: rolling grasslands stretching to the horizon, dotted with lakes, under a sky that seems to go on forever.
Read the complete Landscapes of Dauria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Landscapes of Dauria comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mongol Daguur SPNA.
Mongol Daguur is a strictly protected area in the far east of Mongolia, in Dornod province, where the steppe rolls away towards the Russian and Chinese borders under a sky that seems twice the size of any other. Together with Russia's Daursky reserve across the border, it forms the Landscapes of Dauria, a World Heritage site covering one of the last great intact steppe ecosystems on Earth. There are no fences, no villages, barely any tracks, just grass, lakes, wind and wildlife.
Read the complete Mongol Daguur SPNA write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 106 km into the recorded legs you reach Mongol Daguur SPNA. Next is Forest steppe part of Daursky SNBR.
Dauria is the name for the open steppe where Siberia runs into Mongolia and China, and it is one of the last great undisturbed grasslands in Asia. The reserve called Daursky protects a slice of it in the far south of Zabaykalsky Krai, in an area of rolling hills, shallow salt lakes, and a sky that feels twice as large as normal. Forest steppe is the term for the zone where patches of larch and birch push out into the grass, and here the mixture is dry, windy and bright, with long winters of fierce cold and short summers that can be surprisingly hot.
Read the complete Forest steppe part of Daursky SNBR write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Forest steppe part of Daursky SNBR, about halfway. Next is back through Mongol Daguur SPNA.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mongol Daguur SPNA write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Mongol Daguur SPNA sits at 252 km, about halfway. Next is back through Landscapes of Dauria.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Landscapes of Dauria write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Landscapes of Dauria comes up about 310 km into the recorded legs. Next is Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R closes the day.
Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R → Landscapes of Dauria is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Landscapes of Dauria → Mongol Daguur SPNA is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mongol Daguur SPNA → Forest steppe part of Daursky SNBR is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Forest steppe part of Daursky SNBR → back through Mongol Daguur SPNA is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mongol Daguur SPNA → back through Landscapes of Dauria is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Landscapes of Dauria → Daursky SNBR and Valley of Dzeren Nature R is 68 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.