Road of Bones
Encyclopedia
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
. It connects Magadan
Magadan
Magadan is a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk and gateway to the Kolyma region. It is the administrative center of Magadan Oblast , in the Russian Far East. Founded in 1929 on the site of an earlier settlement from the 1920s, it was granted the status of town in 1939...
and Yakutsk
Yakutsk
With a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...
, Nizhny Bestyakh
Nizhny Bestyakh
Nizhny Bestyakh is an urban locality in Megino-Kangalassky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the east bank of the Lena River, opposite the republic's capital city of Yakutsk...
on the eastern bank of Lena River
Lena River
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...
at Yakutsk, which itself lies on the western bank, as there is no bridge. A ferry operates during the short summer. The length of the original road via Tomtor is about 1900km or 1180 miles. At Nizhny Bestyakh it connects to the Lena Highway
Lena Highway
M56 Lena Highway or The Amur-Yakutsk Highway – a federal highway in the Sakha Republic , Russia, connecting Yakutsk with the Trans-Siberian Railway corridor near Skovorodino. It runs parallel to the incomplete Amur Yakutsk Mainline railway. It takes its name from the Lena River, which runs more...
, also designated M56. Locally, the road is known as Trassa ( - "The Route"), or Kolymskaya trassa ( - "The Kolyma Route"), since it is the only road in the area and therefore needs no special name to distinguish it from other roads. The bulk of the Kolyma Highway, the sections between Khandyga and Magadan, is often referred to as the Road of Bones.
History
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
era of the USSR by Dalstroy
Dalstroy
Dalstroy , also known as Far North Construction Trust, was an organization set up in 1931 by the Soviet NKVD in order to manage road construction and the mining of gold in the Chukotka region of the Russian Far East, now known as Kolyma. Initially it was established as State Trust for Road and...
construction directorate. The first stretch was built by the inmates of the Sevvostlag
Sevvostlag
Sevvostlag was a system of forced labor camps set up to satisfy the workforce requirements of the Dalstroy construction trust in the Kolyma region in April 1932. Organizationally being part of Dalstroy and under the management of the Labor and Defence Council of Sovnarkom, these camps were...
labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
in 1932. The construction continued (by inmates of gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
camps) until 1953.
The road is treated as a memorial, because the bones of the people who died while constructing it were laid beneath or around the road.
The Road Today
The area is extremely cold during the winter. Two towns by the highway, TomtorTomtor
Tomtor is the name of several rural localities in the Sakha Republic, Russia. The most notable one is on the Kolyma Highway. Thirty kilometers northwest is Oymyakon, known chiefly for recording the coldest temperature on Earth at a locality with permanent, year-round habitation...
and Oymyakon
Oymyakon
Oymyakon is a village in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometres northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway.-Geography:...
, both claim the coldest inhabited place on earth (often referred to as -71.2°C, but might be -67.7°C) outside of Antarctica. The average temperature in Oymyakon in January is -46°C.
The road was in a state of disrepair and is not traversable by standard road vehicles because of washed-out bridges and sections of road reclaimed by streams. During winter, frozen water actually helps river crossings. The main mode of freight transport into Magadan has always been and still is shipping. The main mode of passenger transport is air travel.
The Road of Bones has become a challenge for adventure motorcyclists. After the fall of the Soviet government, the road was first travelled by Western motorcyclists in summer 1995 by the British Mondo Enduro team (West-East) and by Norwegian wanderer Helge Pedersen (starting from Magadan). Subsequent traverses by motorcycle include Simon Milward
Simon Milward
Simon Milward was the General Secretary of the Federation of European Motorcyclists Associations , based in Brussels, Belgium from 1992 to 1999. He represented motorcyclists in the institutions of the European Union concerning road safety and consumer issues.A collision with a car resulted in...
in 2001 and also Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
and Charley Boorman
Charley Boorman
Charley Boorman is an English TV adventurer, travel writer and actor. He is well known for his association with motorcycles and enthusiasm for biking.-Education:...
's round-the-world motorcycle journey in 2004, made into a television series, book and DVD, all named Long Way Round
Long Way Round
Long Way Round is a documentary television series, DVD set and book documenting the journey of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman from London to New York on motorcycles...
. However, due to the timing of the journey and the condition of the road, it was not possible for them and their support crew to complete the traverse unassisted. They instead joined a Russian freight convoy, whose trucks were able to ford the still swollen rivers. It was also cycled in the 2004 winter by Alastair Humphreys
Alastair Humphreys
Alastair Humphreys, an English cyclist, adventurer, author and motivational speaker, was born in 1977. Having completed a four-year bicycle journey around the world, he is currently preparing for SOUTH, the first unsupported return journey on foot to the South Pole.Humphreys began his epic journey...
and Rob Lilwall
Rob Lilwall
Rob 'Ron' Lilwall is a British-born adventurer, speaker and author.Lilwall went to school in London and Shropshire and then studied geography for 4 years at Edinburgh University...
, followed on foot by Rosie Swale-Pope
Rosie Swale-Pope
Rosie Swale-Pope, MBE, born , is an author, adventurer and marathon runner who successfully completed a five-year around-the-world run, raising £250,000 for a charity that supports orphaned children in Russia and to highlight the importance of early diagnosis of prostate cancer...
in 2005 and ridden solo on motorcycle by both Adrian Scott and by Russian woman Sasha Teplyakova (via the Old Summer Road) the same year. In 2007 the Polish Motosyberia team completed the Old Summer Road. In 2009 Walter Colebatch and Tony Pettie on the Sibirsky Extreme Project completed the new road, from Yakutsk to Magadan via Ust-Nera
Ust-Nera
Ust-Nera is an urban locality and the administrative center of Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located at the confluence of the Nera and the Indigirka Rivers. Population:...
, in three and a half days. In 2010 Walter Colebatch returned to host the first commercial motorcycle tour on the Road, in which Sherri-Jo Wilkins became the first foreign female rider to ride the road. In September of 2010, Paul and Dean Martinello together with Barton Churchill, completed the Old Summer Road into Magadan, and remain the latest motorcycle arrival to Magadan - the 30th of September, (when nightly temperatures in the area are regularly below -30deg).
A 2001 Travel Guide has the following information: Most traffic goes inland from either Magadan or Yakutsk, so the central area is not fully maintained. From December to perhaps May a winter road
Winter road
Winter roads are temporary highways carved out of snow and ice. They facilitate transportation to and from communities without permanent roads, and are commonly seen in isolated regions in Canada's north....
is maintained. In 1937 the center was realigned. A branch was extended northwest to Ust-Nera
Ust-Nera
Ust-Nera is an urban locality and the administrative center of Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located at the confluence of the Nera and the Indigirka Rivers. Population:...
and a winter road was built south from there to Kyubume. After that part of the route northeast from Kyubume was no longer fully maintained.
As of 2008 the road became a frequently maintained all weather road for the first time as the road was granted Federal Road status with Federal Government funding. The main route of the Kolyma Highway now passes through Khandyga, Kyubeme, Ust Nera, Susuman, Artik and Magadan. The old 420 km section between Kyubeme and Kadykchan is now largely unmaintained and over 200 km of that route is completely abandoned. This section is known as the Old Summer Road and remains one of the great challenges for adventuring motorcyclists and 4WDers.
The route: (**-** marks an area that may not be passable except when frozen). Yakutsk
Yakutsk
With a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...
on the Lena River
Lena River
The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean . It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed...
1. (road, 380 km northeast, summer ferry across the Aldan at Krest-Khaldzhan) 2. (summer Hydrofoil
Hydrofoil
A hydrofoil is a foil which operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to airfoils.Hydrofoils can be artificial, such as the rudder or keel on a boat, the diving planes on a submarine, a surfboard fin, or occur naturally, as with fish fins, the flippers of aquatic mammals, the...
down the Lena and up the Aldan, 530 km,10 hours), Khandyga
Khandyga
Khandyga is an urban locality and the administrative center of Tomponsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located on the Aldan River. Population:...
on the Aldan River
Aldan River
The Aldan River is the second-longest tributary of the Lena River in the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia. The river is 2,273 km long, of which around 1,600 km is navigable. It was part of the River Route to Okhotsk...
, over Suntar Khayatka mountains, 1200m pass, Vostochnaya River. Kyubeme 1. (old route) 155 km northeast to Tomtor
Tomtor
Tomtor is the name of several rural localities in the Sakha Republic, Russia. The most notable one is on the Kolyma Highway. Thirty kilometers northwest is Oymyakon, known chiefly for recording the coldest temperature on Earth at a locality with permanent, year-round habitation...
**250 km road northeast**, into Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan....
) 2. (new route: road north 240 km to Ust-Nera
Ust-Nera
Ust-Nera is an urban locality and the administrative center of Oymyakonsky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located at the confluence of the Nera and the Indigirka Rivers. Population:...
on the Indigirka River
Indigirka River
The Indigirka River is a river in the Sakha Republic in Russia between the Yana River and the Kolyma River. It is in length. The area of its basin is 360,000 km²...
, east: several mining towns, Artyk town, headwaters of the Nera River
Nera River (Russia)
Nera River is a river in Sakha Republic, Russia, and is a right tributary of the Indigirka River. The river is long and has a drainage basin of . The Nera freezes up in October and remains icebound until May - early June...
, 1452m pass). Kadykchan (nearby are coal mines and the old Myaundzha uranium processing centre). Susuman
Susuman
Susuman is a town in Magadan Oblast, Russia, located on the Berelyokh River some 650 km northwest of Magadan. It is the administrative center of Susumansky District, as well as the only town in the entire oblast excepting the capital Magadan...
east, Debin
Debin
Debin is an urban-type settlement in Yagodninsky District of Magadan Oblast, Russia, with a bridge over the Kolyma River on the Kolyma Highway. It was an administrative center for gold-mining in Dalstroy days. 40km upstream is Sinegorye and the Kolyma dam. Population: 921 ; 2,387 ....
, Sinegorye
Sinegorye
Sinegorye is an urban-type settlement in Yagodninsky District of Magadan Oblast, Russia, located on the Kolyma River, eight kilometres from Kolyma hydroelectric plant. Population: 4,071 ; 11,645 ....
with Kolyma Dam and reservoir, Orotukan, road turns southeast and south, 300 km of largely unpopulated taiga, Atka, enters lowlands, Palatka
Palatka
Palatka may refer to:*Palatka, Florida, a city in the United States*Palatka, Russia, an urban-type settlement in Magadan Oblast, Russia*East Palatka, Florida, a census-designated place in the United States...
, Sokol, Magadan
Magadan
Magadan is a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk and gateway to the Kolyma region. It is the administrative center of Magadan Oblast , in the Russian Far East. Founded in 1929 on the site of an earlier settlement from the 1920s, it was granted the status of town in 1939...
. There is also a scenic shortcut from Magadan to Susuman vis Ust Omchug called the Tenkinskaya Trassa, which receives a lot less heavy traffic than the main section of the M56 between Magadan and Susuman.
Distances: Yakutsk to Khandyga 380km, on to Kyubeme 320km, to Kadykchan (via Tomtor) 420km, Kadykchan to Susuman 90km, Susuman to Magadan 630km.
Kyubeme to Kadykchan north via Ust Nera (the new, maintained section) is about 650km.
As of summer 2010, the old summer road via Tomtor was still passable to motorcycles and 4x4s.