Why this ride
The stops in between: Upper Tsagaan Gol, Aral Tolgoi and back through Upper Tsagaan Gol. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 2,950 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al and Aral Tolgoi
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 186 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 12
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al is where the day begins. Next is Upper Tsagaan Gol.
2. Upper Tsagaan Gol
Far out in Mongolia's westernmost corner, where the country wedges itself between Russia, China and Kazakhstan, the Altai mountains rise to the glaciated crown of Tavan Bogd. Below them the Tsagaan Gol, the White River, runs through valleys of larch and bare rock, and on the walls above the water prehistoric hunters carved some of the finest petroglyphs in Central Asia. They are part of the Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai, a UNESCO listing that spans thousands of years, from around the end of the Ice Age through the Bronze Age to the early Turkic era. The images show ibex, aurochs, deer, camels, hunters with bows, and in the later layers horsemen and chariots.
Read the complete Upper Tsagaan Gol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Upper Tsagaan Gol comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Aral Tolgoi.
3. Aral Tolgoi
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Aral Tolgoi. Next is back through Upper Tsagaan Gol.
4. back through Upper Tsagaan Gol
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Upper Tsagaan Gol write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Upper Tsagaan Gol, late in the day. Next is Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al.
5. Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al to Upper Tsagaan Gol
Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al → Upper Tsagaan Gol is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Upper Tsagaan Gol to Aral Tolgoi
Upper Tsagaan Gol → Aral Tolgoi is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Aral Tolgoi to back through Upper Tsagaan Gol
Aral Tolgoi → back through Upper Tsagaan Gol is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Upper Tsagaan Gol to Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al
back through Upper Tsagaan Gol → Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Al is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.