Kamchatka snowmobile tour

Meeting at the airport. Check-in to the hotel

We will meet you at the airport of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and directly drive to the resort area Paratunka, famous for its hot mineral springs. It is located in the valley of the river of the same name, surrounded by forests. The way from the airport to the hotel will take not more than an hour. On the way you will already see our «domestic» volcanoes.

This day will be entirely devoted to acclimatisation and relaxation. A pool with local thermal water is open at any time of the day in the hotel grounds - it is good for relieving fatigue, especially when combined with swimming in snowdrifts - but you should be careful with such contrasts.

Pacific coast. Cape Mayachny

In the morning after breakfast we will pick you up from your hotel by car and drive to the Pacific Ocean shore. The way passes through Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. After about an hour in Zavoyko settlement we will transfer to snowmobiles and ride them to the ocean along the coastline of Avacha Bay - the second largest bay in the world. Usually tourists ride along it on ships, and you will be able to see it from different angles from the shore. The road will take you alternately down by the water and along the slopes of wooded hills. To the highest point on Mayachny Cape we will drive 12 kilometres by snowmobiles. On the way we will pause for sightseeing and snacks.

Closer to the ocean, we drive to a viewpoint that offers a view of the Three Brothers, the pillar-shaped rocks that are one of the symbols of the city. They stand in the water at the entrance to the bay, as if guarding the sea gate. Every schoolchild in Petropavlovsk knows the legend about the origin of these rocks, and you will hear it too during the excursion.

At the top of the cape we will stop at the Petropavlovsk Lighthouse. Signal fires have been lit at this place since the very foundation of the city, and the present-day striped tower has been preserved since 1897. The lighthouse is still active and protected, so you can't climb it, but from the two hundred metre high cape you can admire the open ocean and the sea gates of the bay.

After viewing the sights from the summit, we will descend by snowmobile to the gentle ocean shore. The waves are noisy here all year round, but in winter the water partially freezes and forms bizarrely shaped ice figures. We will stop here, drink warming tea and take a leisurely walk along the shore.

After the shore excursion, we will return by the same route back to the hotel to the hot pools.

Departure to Nalychevo Nature Park

Nalychevo is a natural park with its mild climate and a large number of hot mineral springs. It is surrounded by a mountain chain on three sides, and hides from the Petropavlovsk people behind its «domestic» volcanoes.

To get to the valley we will first drive 70 kilometres to the village of Pinachevo, where we will switch to snowmobiles and start riding through the tundra and forests of stone birch trees. On average, this route takes about 4 hours with a stop for lunch.

Our goal is the Central cordon, the largest island of civilisation in Nalychevo. There is a museum, a small shop, an observation tower and several guest houses with stove heating, where we will spend the night.

Immediately after settling in, you can relax in the natural hot baths. Mineral water in them maintains a comfortable temperature even in frosty weather. There are three natural swimming pools next to the lodges, equipped with wooden paths, ladders and changing rooms.

After the swim we will serve dinner and then there will be time to walk around the area, looking out over the neighbouring volcanoes from the observation tower.

Avachinsky volcano

On the way back from the Nalychevo valley we will take a different route: through Avachinsky Pass, which connects the two largest «domestic» volcanoes - Avachinsky (2741 m) and Koryaksky (3456 m). At its kilometre-high altitude we will ride along the open white expanse between the two giants, then have lunch and rest.

In winter, snowmobiles can be used to climb quite high up the slope of Avachinsky volcano. It offers panoramic views of the city and the bay. Hiking up Avachinsky in summer is quite difficult, unprepared tourists rarely manage it, so to see panoramic views is a rare bonus for guests of Kamchatka.

After walking and riding at the volcanoes we will descend on snowmobiles from the other side of the pass, change to a car and return to the recreation centre in Paratunka.

Departure to the Vilyuchinsky Pass and the South Kamchatka Nature Park

This day we will go to the «South Kamchatka» natural park, which is just near Paratunka. Here you will see three famous volcanoes. Smoky and hissing Mutnovsky is one of the most active on the peninsula, Gorely is interesting with acid lakes in its craters, and slender Vilyuchinsky is interesting with its giant waterfall.

In the morning after breakfast we will take a snack and drive from Paratunka to the neighbouring village of Termalny, where we will switch to snowmobiles. Further the road leads along the forested valley along the river bed. On the way we will stop to taste spring water at the ice-free Zaikin key and take photos at the bridge over the Paratunka River.

A couple of hours after the start of the snowmobile route we will get close to the Vilyuchinsky volcano and drive down the slope to the waterfall of the same name. In summer its stream with a deafening noise pierces a hole in the snowpack, and in winter it freezes with a blue icicle as high as a 17-storey building.

After seeing the waterfall, we will drive a little further and climb up the serpentine road to the viewing platform of the Vilyuchinsky Pass. From its height we will have a panoramic view of the snowy valley, seven neighbouring peaks and the Vilyuchinsky volcano itself (2173 m). If we are lucky with the weather, you will see its regular cone in its entirety.

The next goal of the route is Gorely volcano (1829 m). It is a large massif with a complex structure, several cones and craters. We will drive up as close as possible, only about 100 m on foot. In summer transport can't get so high and it takes another 2-3 hours to climb on foot. At the top you will find yourself above a large crater 200 metres deep with red walls and an acid lake hidden at the bottom under the snow. We will walk along the edge of the basin and reach the neighbouring crater, which is not so large but active: through its fumaroles vapour and gas clouds are constantly bursting out of the volcano's depth.

After the trip we will descend back on snowmobiles and drive up to the tourist lodge at the foot of the volcano. There we will serve dinner and relax in the hot water pools.

Continue travelling through the South Kamchatka Park

After breakfast at the lodge we will get on snowmobiles again and head to the neighbouring Mutnovsky volcano (2322 m) - one of the most famous and popular volcanoes in Kamchatka. It does not have a pronounced summit, but you can walk into its crater and explore the volcano from inside.

We will go up the slopes on snowmobiles and walk 30-40 minutes to the entrance to the crater. Behind the walls of the volcano hides its own noisy, bustling life. We will guide you through fumarole fields with bright yellow sulphurous towers, show you boiling mud pots of different colours, acid rivers and blue glaciers. On the background of white snows the colourfulness of Mutnovsky will look even more contrasting.

On the way back, we will deviate a little from the route and drive up to the Dangerous waterfall. It is formed by the flow of the acid river Vulkannaya, which descends in this place into a deep canyon from a height of 80 metres. Unlike the Vilyuchinsky waterfall, the Opasny waterfall does not freeze in winter and continues to flow inside the ice column. And if you can see the first one from below, from the foot, then we will approach the second one from above, and hardly anyone can see the deep bottom of the canyon.

After seeing the waterfall, we will descend from the volcano and drive by snowmobile to the village of Termalny in a few hours. There we will change to a car and return to the hotel in the evening.

Reserve day

For snowmobile tours in Kamchatka it is always better to keep a reserve day in case of bad weather. If it turns out to be free, you can fill it with an additional excursion, for example:

• dogsledding,
• snowmobile trip to the Great Bath Hot Springs,
• skiing or snowboarding on the slopes of the volcano

Transfer to the airport

On the final day of the tour we will stop at the fish market: here you will find several kinds of salmon caviar, Pacific sea bass, seabass, nerka, chinook salmon, pink salmon, scallop, Kamchatka crab and dozens of other local delicacies. If you need, we will help you with the choice of hotels. Not far from the market there is a good souvenir shop where you can buy products made of natural materials, paintings, elements of national costumes and traditional tourist gifts.

On the way to the airport we will stop at the monument «Here Russia Begins»: tourists traditionally take their final photos at its stone bears against the background of our volcanoes. We will take you to the airport and say goodbye, but we will be waiting for you again in Kamchatka.