There are two ways to get to Katon-Karagai:
1) Via Kurchum town and Kaznakovskaya ferry;
2) Via R-163 road from Ust-Kamenogorsk
The main road is shown on the screenshot below (from Ust-Kamenogorsk)
Distance from Ust-Kamenogorsk to Katon-Karagai - 343.9 km.
Dear traveler, it’s only 344 kilometers from Ust-Kamenogorsk to Katon-Karagai. You may think that it’s only 3-4 hour drive. But (maybe, fortunately) these kilometers turn to a real road trip for 5-6 hours.
You need to drive a curvy road with Osinovskiy pass that has famous narrow hairpin turns. You have to be very careful when driving this road in summer when there’s heavy traffic. This road often get closed in early spring and late autumn for night time due to ice on the asphalt. After the Osinovskiy pass, you will have to drive crazy hairpin turns along the shore of Bukhtarma sea (yes, locals call it “sea), and in namesake village Bukhtarma you can find a small fish market.
Almost every traveler visits it. There you can buy various types fish that was caught in Bukhtarma “sea”: smoked, dried, stock, salted fish and even caviar. Unfortunately, fresh fish is a very rare thing to see here.
Passing by Sazhayevsky open pit mine (not so beautiful, but an interesting place where limestone for Bukhtarma cement plate is mined) you got to stay aware of ore haulers.
In the town of Altai (former Zyryanovsk) it is worthy to visit local market, where you can taste a portion of delicious shashlyk. But you have to be aware of a rough Altaian service there... Usually they only have pork or chicken for orders. And if you’re not a fan of such places - then you can visit MAMA’s cafe with home-style cuisine. It has really tasty dishes.
When you leave Altai town behind, the road will become more curvy, mountains will become higher and fields - more beautiful. The most picturesque views are in late July and early August - fields full of ripe sunflowers will not leave you insensitive.
When you reach Ulken Naryn village, it would be good to fill up the tanks of your cars at Alem Oil gas station on the belt route, and have a lunch at the cafe at the central square.
And then there is THE Katon that you all wanted to visit and made this difficult way to here!
If you’re an experienced off-road traveker, then there’s an alternative road to Katon. This is a dirt road, 76km long, from Altaika village (at the shore of Bukhtarma sea) and Ulken Naryn village. This is an incredibly beautiful road that goes beside the sea shore, our little “road of dreams”. It has gorgeous views at sunset.
*Please note that the road does not have asphalt and it could be an uncomfortable trip if you drive a light vehicle.