Cold Steppes

In March 2024, ten participants joined Nomadic Road's Cold Steppes expedition for 11 days across northern, central and western Mongolia in the dead of winter. The route covered 2,600 kilometres of tarmac, snow-packed roads and frozen lakes, with temperatures dropping as low as -30°C. Whiteouts erased the horizon on several days, last-minute route changes were the norm, and almost everything that could freeze, did. Mongolia in March is a country at its most stripped-back. Outside Ulaanbaatar, the chaotic capital, roads disappear into open steppe, and the wilderness goes on for hours without a sign of another vehicle. Nomadic culture still shapes daily life: families live in traditional gers, eagle hunters work the western mountains, and shepherds move livestock across snow that crunches like glass. The 2024 edition crossed several frozen lakes, including stretches where the ice was thick enough to drive on safely. Participants navigated towering winter dunes, slept in heated gers in private camps, and shared evenings around food, vodka, and the kind of quiet that only sub-zero open landscapes deliver. Most drivers signed up specifically for the rugged side of the Mongolia self-drive experience, drawn by descriptions that promised difficulty rather than comfort. By the end of the expedition, the group had handled icy descents, navigated by GPS through snowstorms, and seen parts of Mongolia that close down to overland travel for most of the year. Cold Steppes is not a winter holiday. It is a winter expedition, and the March 2024 edition delivered exactly what its participants came for.