Piste Update R2 - Nouadhibou to Atar
 

The first part of this piste is now sealed and follows the tarmac road from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott. The best place to join the piste appears to be at the town of Bou Lanouar about 90kms from Ndh, which is where the tarmac road begins to turn south. Navigation by the railway remains straightforward and the tracks are quite clear.

Although there is a promising looking fuel station about 1km past the town of Bou Lanouar on the Ndh - Nkt road, no petrol was available when we were there. Petrol was available in jerrycans from Choum for 300 Ouguiya a litre.

cheers

Hello!
 

Hi, and thanks for the update. Planing this route in march with a motorcycle. Can you pleasel tell me litle bit more about the the condition of the pist?


Cheers
Haakon

Hi, it's a year since I last drove this, but I doubt it's changed much.
Navigation is easy - just stay South of the railway, then follow the piste South West from Choum. The going is frequently rough at either end - with particularly nasty corrugations between Choum and Atar. Some soft sand in the middle section, but if things got difficult you could possibly ride between the tracks. I'd allow 2 days in a 4x4, so maybe 3 on a bike?

There are some dramatic rock outcrops West of Choum which are fun to climb for a sunset/sunrise. Enjoy!

Agree with the previous post, however I don't think the sand was ever deep enough to warrant riding on the tracks. There are two relatively easy dune sections and a couple of sections with deepish sand ruts, including near the first village as you join the piste from the Ndb - Nkt road and in the middle of the piste. Most of the rest of the piste is relatively fast tracks across open desert.

I think two days on this piste on a bike is sufficient (and indeed would expect a bike to do this piste much quicker than most 4WDs).

we did it in 21/2 days with very heavilly loaded 4x4s (carrying schoolbooks) so a fair bit of digging!. I wouldn't reccomend riding on the tracks
a. it would be mind bogglingly uncomfortable
b. I have heard there are a lot of nails about, close to, and presumably on, the railway, stay a good 50 metres away

Thank
 

you all for your update on the pist. Would yourecomend a place to stay in Nouadhibou, where there is chance to meet others going toward Choum and Atar?

Cheers
Haakon:thumbup1:

Haakon, sorry don't know a place in NDB, but the border bottleneck is often a good chance to hook up with others. Otherwise, further North in the WS, the campsite outside Dakhla is a longtime haunt for overlanders.

Matt - be interested in hearing more about your recent trip, sent you a pm.

When I was there a couple of years ago Camping Bai du Levrier in the middle of Nouhadibou was the overlanders hangout. The road may have changed this as there's less need to go to at Nhb now - particularly if you're going to Choum and don't need supplies

hi!
I see. Guess I need a couple of days rest and store up my fuel in NDB, so the tip is very much appriciated.

Richard, I believe Matt is entering Marocco one of this days.

Matt, like they say in Central America, "feliz biache"


Cheers
Haakon:thumbup1:

We (3 BMW 1150 GSs and a Yamaha 600 Tenere) tried this route about 10 days ago, from Nouadhibou to Choum/Atar. We got 54 miles from the sealed road and decided it was too difficult (but not impossible) to continue, we camped for the night and rode out the next day. Fortunately we made the right decision, as we were leaving the piste a sandstorm started that lasted all the next day. We rode in it for 8 hours/300 miles all the way to Nouakchott, totally blinding and so fierce that it stripped the anodising off the fork legs and wheel rims, ruined the screen, headlights and 2 visors. It also took the nickel plating off my ratchet strap! We would have been in serious trouble if we had stayed in the desert, it would have been impossible to ride and the locals said the storms can last for up to 6 days. We were very heavily loaded though, with full luggage, camping gear, 50 litres of fuel and 20 litres of water each. Running on TKC tyres but the soft sand was a nightmare. The railway track is litterted with huge steel shards from the lines, I wouldn't recommend riding on the track although I did a few hundred yards. We saw the Desert Train, absolutely awesome!

I did it a couple of months ago in a car and if I was riding a bike (especially a tanked up 1150) I would ride steadily between the rails around the dune cordons which come later. I can't say I noticed any stakes any more than general metal junk (like old sleepers, etc) lying around. You just keep your eye out. There are no sleepers on the rails, or they are covered with coarse gravel/stones - at least on the sections we saw. It would be much more predictable on the gravel than riding sandy dune ruts which is the worst sort of terrain for a bike IME. You'd want to keep and eye on your mirrors though...

Cutting the corner to avoid Choum was not so obvious on the ground (got some wpts somewhere) but we worked it out on a bearing and picked up the main track down to Atar. With the interesting sites around Atar/the Adrar plateau I think it's well worth trying to go this way rather than down the highway to NKT. One could even take a direct route from Bou Lanouar or the highway to the first escarpment pass (KM494) before Azogui. It cant be any harder, just trackless. fyi Maison de Bien Etre in Ching (in the book) is still a cool spot to park up and there is hand pumped fuel in Oudane now - also well worth a visit.

Ch

Hi,

A few fuel stations have opened in the Nouadhibou – Nouakchott road:
N20 48.692 E-16 7.236
N21 16.597 E-16 31.695
N20 3.09 E-15 55.274 (under construction)

Cheers,
José

Last month they only had diesel, no petrol. To be on the safe side you need 320 miles worth of fuel, plus reserve, to get from Nouadhibou to Nouakchott.

distance?
 

hee
What is approximately the distance between nouhabidhou and atar. And is it possible to complete the way with a 4x4 subaru forester? Maybe we want to drive this road in begin August. And then from Atar go south to Nouakchott. That's a better way, isn't it?

ps. sorry for my bad English.

the distance is 540 kms, acc to my memory. It is possible with forester, why not.
road better to what? If you need to get to Nuakschott, the 'best' is new tarmac of course... and the most boring...

atar to nouakchott
 

hee
does anyone know what the condition is off the road between atar and nouakchott. I believe it is the N1. I have a bad roadmap but on that roadmap stays a big way.

bye

Supossed to be very good. Its the main road between the Capital and their, I believe, the most wisited tourist area.

Cheers
Haakon

good
 

Atar-NKT is very good tarmac, no problems.

Nouadhibou-Atar is fine. Soft sand in places definitely. We drove it 18 months ago with heavily laden trailers (which kill off-road ability). We opted for the tracks at times when piste was unworkable (for us). Keep a look out for trains! The flat tyre we had whilst on the train tracks (I kid you not) was replaced in F1 pit-stop time!!!

Sam.

thanks sam
 

thanks sam for your answer
but is it possible to drive between the rails? Because when we do it in the summer.....we need to do that too because we heve a subaru forsester 4x4......but with I believe only 16 cm groundmargin.....

not necessary?
 

Dear Brend,

You cannot drive between the rails, they are too close together.

You might be okay anyway - dependant on where your min clearance is (is your 16cm to differential or to axle?).

Even better, I don't know the Subaru but I reckon you may well be okay on the piste. As long as you have basic 4wd (ie minimum one wheel forward and one rear turning), low range, and a good pump for re-inflating tyres after a soft patch, you should be okay.

Keep the weight as minimum as possible - weight is the key to almost everything (including life and the universe!).

Sam.

hm, not ideal!
 

I just had a look at your car, perhaps not the best for your route, BUT...

You'll still get through okay (people have been driving normal saloon cars along more difficult pistes for years).

I would seriously look at what plastic you can take off the lower parts of your car before leaving (ie bumper spoilers, trim beneath door etc.) - because otherwise it'll probably part company anyway en-route!

Last thing you might want to look at is the vulnerability of the sump - a steel plate bolted underneath for protection might also be a good idea.

BUT...

You'll still get through okay!

Sam.

Camping aba (spelling mite be wrong) is a place where overlanders stay didnt stay there but would if i went again cheap basic but has all you need & the owner was helpful even though we wert staying there . Was with No6 & some of the splinters around the railway line would make good spear heads 30cms long.
Kev

Are there any mines between the piste and the railway line? I will be doing this route and might want to skip the sandy dunes and head north back to the railway line sometimes. Really worried about punctures on the tracks though, are the sandy sections really that bad on a bike? And how many kilometers are these sandy sections?

Are there any mines between the piste and the railway line?

There are no mines between the piste R2 and the railway line. The mines are all north of the line. No need to even go there, the going is no better. The piste takes the easiest route usually a km or 2 south of the railway but you cant avoid the 3 dune sections dunes (sand hills really) unless you ride along the railway as I think I mentioned before. That is what I would do on a heavy bike. Or take the highway to NKT.

Ch

really easy
 

North of railway line, you might hit a mine
On or south of railway line you will not hit a mine

Sam.

GPS coordinates for Bou Lanouar?
 

Does anyone have the GPS coordinates for Bou Lanouar, where the piste starts?

Hi monkii, we started the piste here :- N21 09.905 W16 24.239
Just turn left off the tarmac road and head Northeast. there are several tracks all joining together eventually. Because of the new road it's not easy to find the actual beginning of the piste but anywhere after the roundabout and checkpoint will do.
Andy.

Thank you, very helpful information!

Well this thread is quite old but...

Does anybody know the actual condition of the R2 road Nouadhibou to Atar?
Any changes since 2007?

We will be in this area in about two weeks from now.

Cheers,
Wauschi

P.S.:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...gCrt0&hl=en_US

Found some more details:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...se-check-42887

But they also date back to 2009.

We did this a year ago. With landcruiser and motorbike. We carried our friend's stuff in our car. A lot of sand, if you stop in a wrong place you will be stuck, a lot of dynes. Took us 3 days to get to Atar. Take extra fuel. We also took extra fuel to our friend on a motorbike, it was needed. It was hard to find the starting route, but all the tracks leads to the same place, just follow the train track. We drove next to it, not on it. People who drove on it, got several punctures.
It was tough, but absolutely worth of it. Sleeping in a night, when its so quiet and no one around.
There are little villages on a way, we later heard that you were supposed to stop in every of those, we did not stop in one.
Safety wise no problem.

I understand the last fuel will be available at Boulenouar (See: OpenStreetMap)

Yes, when looking at the map one will discover some small settlements like:

Like here: OpenStreetMap

Inal: 21,17,360N 14,59,740W
OpenStreetMap

Tmeimichat: 21,14,330N 14,22,585W
OpenStreetMap

I understand there won't be any fuel available along the way.
Will I find a basic accommodation at one of the villages?
Will we get water there?

Cheers,
Wauschi

Just a note to say, as i don't think it has been mentioned, there is the original piste and a new piste 100mtr's or so south of the original one which has much less corrugations etc.

Just completed...had some entertainment joining at Bou Lanouar, did a bit of freestyle routing - the dune sections have some tricky bits but once you lose the urge urge to follow other tracks (there often aren't any...it's been windy) it's lots of fun.

You don't have to stop at all villages, but there are a couple of checkpoints with friendly officers at a couple.

One of those checkpoints, village about 2/3 distance, has a 'building' next to it with 'Auberge' written on the side...if that answers the accommodation question? I found a hollow in the dunes...just me, the camels, and the occasional train.

I was pleased and lazy to find extensive blacktop from soon after where the corner-cut from KM400 joins the Choum-Atar piste/road. Thanks Chris for the route notes, and also the book we've been following through Morocco....it's been entertaining!

You don't have any pictures or waypoints or anything you could post up do you? I'd be interested to see anything you've got as this has been on my to-ride list for many years. I've "done it" on the train but as it went by night I didn't see much.

Did I read correctly that the Choum - Atar part is now a tarred road rather than the sandy piste it was when I was last there?

Hi - sorry for slow, brief reply...internet in Mauritania not up to Morocco standard!

I got the wayponts from here somewhere - Chris Scott's pages from book, which I had a print of. He has also posted the waypoints in gpx or kml. [Edit: In fact, having bought Sahara-Overland and Morocco Overland, the waypoint files and other support material are available online directly, I don't believe they are posted on here after all...hazy memory! The waypoints themselves are not that interesting without the commentary which goes with them - "keep the railway on your North and pick your own route through dune sections (using railway if necessary)" would probably do as well as just the waypoints.

If you want to see my exact route, its on the tracker page here
https//www.veganwithoutfrontiers.com/tracking

You'll need a password at the moment for the map, message me and I'll send it.

Tarmac is not quite yet all the way to Choum, but if you take the corner-cut from the end of the dunes you'll hit the roadworks at the beginning of it...

Have fun!

As I understood it, what VWF meant is that when you take the shortcut cross-country from KM408 just after the last dunes and head SE towards Atar, at some stage before the original N1 piste on map below - you encounter a new road from Atar direct to Choum and eventually Zouerat (as mentioned here) where the Bab map shows the planned road.
There were always tracks here as it was a direct way to Choum (and the train) from Atar. The current N1 goes east of the ridge for Zouerat, avoiding Choum.

The railway today cuts a corner of the PFZ west of the ridge on it's way to Zouerat mines. But in the 1960s when PFZ was Spanish Rio de Oro province, out of spite (it's said) the French build a 2-km tunnel under/around the corner, rather than accept Spain's conditions to cross their territory. Probably the same reason the N1 goes west of the ridge. Google 'Choum tunnel'.
You wonder if the new road might follow the rails via PFZ briefly, or just squeeze through.
(Fyi, a pre-Islamic crescent tomb 3km north of the old tunnel's northern exit).