Along the Chuya Highway

The Chuya Highway is the main transport artery of the Altay Mountains, which connects industrial centers in the Novosibirsk region with central China. It starts in Novosibirsk and stretches to the border with Mongolia. The total length of the Chuya Highway is 942 kilometers.

In one of the ratings published by National Geography magazine, the Chuya Highway was included in the list of the most beautiful highways in the world. This road is really very picturesque, but it is important to understand that not the whole road (942 km) is of interest to tourists, but only a small segment from the Seminsky Pass to the Kuray steppe, which runs in mountain valleys. Its length is 250 kilometers. 

Main attractions on the Chuya Highway:

1. Gorno-Altaysk (446 km)
2. Barangol village (485 km)
3. Seminsky pass (582 km) 
4. Chike Taman Pass (662 km) 
5. Katun Valley (680-713 km)
6. Confluence of Chuya and Katuni (712 km) 
7. Kalbak-Tash Archaeological Complex (723 km) 
8. Adar-Kaya Archaeological Complex (728 km) 
9. Monument to the drivers of the Chuya Highway (745 km) 
10. Geyser Lake (797 km) 
11. Kuray steppe (824-848 km) 
12. North Chuya Ridge (824-848 km)
13. Chuya Valley (713-893 km)
14. Altay Mars (863 km)

Start your journey in Gorno-Altaysk. In the city, visit the National Museum. Here you can see interesting collections on ethnography and archeology of Altay. You will see the famous Princess Ukok.

From Gorno-Altaysk, go south. Make a stop in the village of Barangol. Cross the pedestrian bridge over the Katun River and walk to the Kamyshlinsky Waterfall. In the village of Manzherok, you can take a ski lift to the top of the mountain to see the surroundings.

From Barangol, go to the Seminsky Pass. Make a short stop here, take a walk through the cedar grove in the vicinity of the pass. Continue your journey to the Chike-Taman Pass. Here you can make a longer stop, see beautiful views and a historical section of the Chuya Highway of the 1930s.

In the valley of the Katun River, the most beautiful segment of the Chuya Highway begins. New views open up around every corner. Be sure to stop near the confluence of Chuya and Katun, it is called the Place of Power of Altay.

In the Chuya Valley there are two archaeological complexes where you can see Neolithic petroglyphs, as well as later Scythian petroglyphs. The most famous are the petroglyphs of Kalbak-Tash. Here you can see images of people who look like aliens. The petroglyphs of Adar-Kaya and Chuya Deer Stone are 20 kilometers away.

Make the next stop near the Monument to the drivers of the Chuya Highway. It is located in a very picturesque place of the Chuya Valley. Here you can see a small part of the historic road of the 1930s.

One of the most famous sights of Altay is the Geyser Lake. At its bottom, powerful water sources pulsate, which lift blue clay from the bottom and it diverges in circles. The drawings of these circles change every half hour.

Continue to the Kuray Steppe. Its length reaches 20 kilometers. On both sides, the Kuray steppe is hemmed in by mountain ridges. The North-Chuya Ridge rises from the south. Its mountain peaks are covered with snow even in the summer months. From the village of Kuray, you can go to the Aktru Glaciers, but this trip will take at least 3 days.

The length of the Chuya Valley, through which the Chuya Highway passes, reaches 240 kilometers. The final destination of the trip is the village of Chagan-Uzun. In its vicinity there is a unique attraction - Altay Mars. Here you will see colored mountains of red, yellow, blue, pink, white.