Road Of Bones / The federal road M56
 

Hi

I'm planning a rather long trip next year and part of it is Far East Russia and Magadan. I've got two questions that will hopefully help me refine my schedule that I'll base my visas on.

Roughly how long does it take to drive/ride from Yakutsk to Magadan on the federal road?

Is M56/Magadan in the border zone?

Thanks for the help!

Strange question. It's hundreds, even thousands of kilometres from an international border. No special permits required.

Well, Russian border zones can be strange. I've tried to find a map with the border zones but with no luck. I know there's a border zone in the Far East, just not exactly sure how far it goes.

Better be safe than having to play stupid with the officials.

Well, once your in Russia, your in Russia! You can ride your bike from Moscow to Magadan no problem. There are various "Oblasts" or Administritive divisions and within them various "raions" reigons. You may be stopped to show your documents but other than that your good to go!

Should be in Magadan myself in late July. If you are going via western Russia into Mongolia and on to Magadan ensure to get a multiple entry business visa for Russia.

I came in the year 2003 (on my way to Magadan) to a border station in the middle of the country. It was on the main road between Skovrodino and Yakutsk. I was so surprised that I started laughing at the offical and him demanding my passport in his funny uniform. Not a good idea to laugh at them ... because he demanded that I turn around, which of course in the end I did not have to do.

I dont think this border station (control point) exists anymore, but at the time it was for the Sakha Republic (if I remember correctly).

So, the question

is not that strange to me, but I can not answer it.


mika :mchappy:

Hi,

1) M56 is not in the border zone, no problem with this
2) As of September 2016 approx 1/3 of the road (all road is 2000+ km) was already paved with excellent asphalt. In last years hundreds of bridges and other road infrastructure elements were built. By 2018 officials promise to make road fully asphalted. The places that are unpaved still have good coverage where cars usually ride 80-100 km/h. Motorcyclists ride according to their riding skills. All in all I would take 7-10 days for such a trip

Hope that will help. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks for the info, Alex!

As I'll be driving, then I'll plan a week for going there and another coming back. Got some extra time in reserve for delays, so all should be good.

Wait a sec!

Yakutsk - Magadan is not paved, except for the last 150 km before Magadan. On the federal road there 2.000 km of gravel road.

Time? In good conditions 4 days. Yakutsk-Khandiga-Ust Nera-Susuman-Magadan.

This summer there was a bridge washed out by water, a big one, and all traffic stopped for weeks.

With motorcycle we could cross on small fisherman boats. Other wise we had no problems. It is not a border area.

The road from Tynda to Yakutsk is 2/3 paved.

Adrian

To put an end to the uncertainty above:

1) Border Zones correspond to "Raions" (town or county administrative divisions - the smallest administrative divisions in Russia) bordering federal borders and sometimes coastal regions. If the Raion is large then it means the border zone can sometimes extend a fair way from the actual border (50-60 km in sparsely populated areas). Other times, the border zone can be just 2-3 km wide. OSM (when you zoom in far enough) does show the smallest administrative borders in Russia, that of the Raions - allowing you to see the limits of the border zones. It is that traced out by the edge of the raions on the federal border.

2) Border Zones are all listed online ... Click Here

3) The fact that someone was stopped in the middle of Russia by a man in a uniform does not mean the rider hit a border zone. There are many closed zones within Russia, as indeed there are in all countries (This clip from Area 51 last year springs to mind), usually military / national security related. These are not "border zones".

4) Travel on a Federal Road that goes through a border zone is permitted without border zone permits. For example, travel down the M52 Chuisky Trakt to Mongolia from the Russian Altai enters a border zone as soon as you leave the town of Kosh Agach, around 30 km or so from the actual border. However, you need no border permit to be on that road, as it is a Federal Road. I do advise people not to camp away from the road in a border zone tho... so while you may use the Federal Road thru a border zone, leaving the Federal Road to camp in the border zone may well contravene border zone regulations.

5) There are hundreds of blogs and ride reports of people riding or driving the M56 to Magadan. You will not find a single reference to getting, needing, showing a border permit for that journey anywhere in any of those blogs. It is either an incredible omission, or its not needed. It would be even a more remarkable omission when almost all of those blogs mentions somewhere, Russian visas. So its kinda common sense guys - if not a single person mentions them in connection with Yakutia or Magadan ... what does that tell you?. As an author of several of those blogs, I can assure you there is no border permit required to do the M56.

its 2100 km. It can be done in 3 days tho most people take 4-5.

Much of the first day out of Yakutsk is sucked up by two large river crossing requiring barges. The wait for the barge is long enough, then each crossing can be up to 90 minutes (big rivers).

Last summer people in Yakutsk were telling me that the chinese will build a bridge over the Lena river to Yakustk. It is planned to be completed by 2020.

I guess by then the M51 federal highway will probably be entirely paved.