Bike Tour: From Petropavlovsk to Tolbachik

August 2002

There are not too many roads in Kamchatka. One main track goes from Petropavlovsk west to Ust-Bolsherevsk, another main track leads north ending in Ust-Kamchatsk, and smaller road leads south to a geothermal power station at the volcano Mutnovsky. From these main tracks several smaller side tracks initially made as forestry roads lead to different volcanoes, rivers and other points of interest. In and around Petropavlovsk and other largere cities roads are sealed, everything else is dirt track of varying suface quality.

We were cycling on the Kamchatka peninsula for three weeks.
We explored the main track and some side tracks north up to the volcano Tolbatschik. We then returned the same way and went on the track west up to the village Apache. Near the capital Petropavlovsk we climbed the volcano Avachinsky. Our attempt to also climb Mutnovsky was not successful due to the first fall cyclone trapping us in our tent for four days...

Cycling with view of the volcanoes.		 The track at times is very dusty and carries a lot of heavy truck traffic. However, the great scenery of the volcanoes Kliuchevskoy, Kamen and Tolbachik rewarded for every meter on the bad surface...
Online Report.
Kliuchevskaja and Kamen.