road conditions mongolia

[thehaeusgens]

hi everyone, anyone out there who has any uptodate information about road conditions in mongolia? we are planning to enter mongolia north of ölgi and are not sure whether to take the south or north route towards UB... advise is greatly appreciated. thanks in advance

[edoardo]

Hi,

I have been crossing Mongolia this June by bike from UB to china. The south route from khovd to UB it will be all paved except 100 km between bayankhongor and altai. North route mostly unpaved till tosontsengel.

[Daves]

Looking for a recent update in regards to the Mongolian paved roads.
Mainly from the Altai entrance to Ullan Bator.
Thanks

[Lovetheworld]

I dont think they added much asphalt in one month time. And it applies to your route as well.

[rfoltz]

Very slow, especially as unusually heavy rains this summer have washed out many areas in the centre of the country. Don't count on averaging more than 40-50km/hr even on the main East-West highway.

[big.jim.v]

Travelled UB-Dharkan-Moron-Tes-Ulaangom-Ulgii-Russia by motorcycle July 2018.

We found the Google map layer in this blogpost correct for paved roads in Mongolia west of UB:

http://tomongolia.blogspot.com/2008/11/ ... k.html?m=1

On the northern route the most helpful new road is the Songino-Nuranbulag-Ulaangom section... 300km of perfect asphalt. Less than a year old. We headed west from Moron as far as Tes on the dirt and then cut south to the asphalt via Zuunkhangai

The road on the western side of Achit Lake (Ulaangom to Tsaganuur) was closed due to flood damage. You have to take the east road via Khotgor.

Maps.me is surprisingly reliable in Mongolia... Especially for petrol in the west. Way better than Google maps.

Hope that helps!

[Aksel]

UlanBataar - Ulgii can be driven in about 30 hrs with a 4x4 when taking the Southern route (the local bus takes the same route).

UlanBataar - Bayankhongor is paved and road quality is OK. Average speed 80 km/hr.
Do NOT drive via Kharokin, as that road to Arvaikheer is dirt-track. Average speed 40 km/hr. (Take the direct route instead, which is paved).
Bayankhongor - Altai has a new road being constructed which ends half way in the middle of nowhere (direction Butsagaan). Average speed 60 km/hr.
A paved road “Southern Route” should exist but we took the new road, so we don’t know the condition of the old “Southern Route” road.
Delger - Olgii is new tarmac and road qualiy is perfect, although some deviations (unpaved) exist. Average speed 100 km/hr.
Olgii-Tsagannuur is mostly paved, you can drive to the Russian border in somewhat more than an hour.

The bus used to take 48 hours, from UB to Olgii, but as many new roads are constructed it’s about 40 hours now. Will further improve.

Maps.me is very reliable for main roads, secundary roads and dirt/mud tracks. Time estimation is nonsense though.
Google maps is bad on the Southern route when deviating from main roads. Time estimations are reliable though.

Gas/benzine 92 grade is available in every city, town and in some villages.
Gas/benzine 95 grade is availably in every city and some towns. A 500km range fuel tank will do.

Fuel quality is good, although max speed went up/down by 20%. Could be caused by mountian roads and battery problems we had.

[Lovetheworld]

The road from UB down into the Gobi has good asphalt up to Bayandalai, the rest is pretty though washboarding and so on.

[sank]

I did just finish driving to Olgii from Arvaikheer (via the northern route) most of it is paved now. (that if you take the detour along the highway towards Kharokin. I drove the direct route and you end up on perfect asphalt about halfway. before that its dirt track but locals drive it in 2wd cars. after kharokin there are some potholes but nothing to serious.

After that its all perfect asphalt towards Ulaangom except for the +- 180 km between about 50 km beyond of Tosontsengel and Songino. this is all good dirt track next to the construction of an new asphalt road. some water/mud holes due to the rain, but again locals drive there Prius here. Most of it looked like its ready for the final asphalt layer so will be finished soon.

At the turnoff towards Ulaangom make sure you don't miss it, like I did. the asphalt turns south here, and I didn't find a clear sign. I had to back track about 75 km..

The final 150/200km from Ulaangom to Olgii is a very scenic roads over mountain passes (2500m) and involves an unbridged river crossing. but I do recommend to drive it, all rocks, gravel, dirt and what not (I do strongly recommend an 4x4 for this part) I couldn't cross the river due to rain last couple of days leading up tho my travel. so had to use the bridge on the other side of the lake. from there the gravel goes on tho Olgii. while you drive around the lake stay out of the green parts, that is al swamp and real I got lost in it trying to find my way out. if you do go in for lets say to go to the lake have enough ground clearness. my standard patrol(y60) was struggling. ones your in a small town there is an track leading thru some red rock, thats the one you need. it took me 3 times, thats with asking locals where to go. first 2 the road ended in soup as the locals call it. maps.me has the road but it will strongly advice you to cross the river.

fuel wasn't a problem and could fill it up at least every 300/350 km (I drive on diesel)

[Maria - Silkroaders]

We are driving the southern road at the moment are we are amazed by the good conditions of most of the road. The main road showing on google maps it’s not the road that you actually drive. We are at Arvaikheer Right now and the road between Altai and Baiankhongor is terrible but the rest it’s perfect!
CAR INSURANCE: We were stopped after the border by a woman wearing a kind of official outfit and she was very insistent about selling us the car insurance. After a long talk we decided to ask another overlanders who were on the border queue heading out from Mongolia and they told us that they had to buy it too. They mentioned that the police ask for it. Thanks god we bought it! On the first police stop between Khov and Ulgii we were asked just for the insurance so it was a well spent money.