Whether you are a hiking professional or just a beginner, Georgia offers a wide range of opportunities. Most of the beautiful areas are located in very remote spots which involve intense hiking and spending nights camping out. However, if an overnight stop is not for you, there still are some routes easily covered in a day.
Abudelauri Colorful Lakes
Abudelauri Lakes, situated in Khevsureti region, is popular for its three different colored lakes located not that far from each other. Green, white and blue lakes attract many visitors throughout the season. The hike starts from the village Roshka and to reach the final, white lake, you’ll need to walk around 8 km and back. You can easily stay at the guesthouse in the village and come back to Tbilisi the next day.
Stepantsminda village is a famous destination for many tourists coming to Tbilisi. Those stunning views of Mt. Kazbegi and Gergeti Trinity Church lying at its foot attract many hikers and nature lovers. Walking up to the church from Stepantsminda takes only 6 km, but if you feel that’s not enough for you, continue walking towards the glacier. The total length from the village to the glacier is 22 km both ways and might take around nine-10 hours in total.
Borjom-Kharagauli National Park offers various trails through gorgeous landscapes to its visitors. One of the most popular trails of the park is so-called Footprint Trail, taking you from Likani to Kvabiskhevi through a 13 km-long hike. During the walk, you’ll come across 800-1,000-year-old trees and beautiful flora. The trail follows a serpentine path along a mountain slope. The ascent follows approximately three hours on Nikoloz Romanov trail and turns to Nakvalevi trail afterwards, offering studding panoramic views. After another hour of walking, the trail goes down by a steep descent to Kvabiskhevi valley. Once you reach the end of the trail, you’ll need to walk an additional kilometer to reach the nearest village to overnight.
For those who plan on staying at the Black Sea coast for a while, Kobuleti Protected Areas offers an interesting one-day getaway from the seaside at its Ispani trail. It’s very easy and very short, barely even called a hike, but is worth mentioning and visiting.
The road takes you from the entrance of the area towards the birdwatching tower. You’ll walk through so-called Smekalkova Channel and if you look closer, you might be able to see a kingfisher or wetland turtles.
And if this is not enough, you can continue exploring the area via White Moss trail taking you through Shavi Ghele river to encounter rare species of the country’s fauna and flora. You’ll be able to see nymphaea, bur-reed, and spring snowflake starting to blossom.
The trail starts at the entrance of Artsivi, Eagle Canyon in English, and you’ll pass along the limestone cliffs and reach the basis of the rocks to see the rare endemic plant species that grow on the cliff without any soil. Then, the route takes you to the viewpoints to enjoy watching flying griffon vultures.
Besides this, you can even visit the remains of a medieval city-fortress, Khornabuji, via passing through the narrow forest road that looks like a natural tunnel during summer. At the end of it, you reach the 5th-century fortress built on a steep cliff. The area is accessible by car, but to get closer to the ruins you should hike a bit towards the fortress and get rewarded with amazing views of Alazani Valley and the Caucasus Mountains.
Truso Valley in Kazbegi region makes another great one-day hiking trip. Located in the almost abandoned area towards the South Ossetia border, the valley offers stunning nature, travertines, mineral springs, ancient towers, and several abandoned settlements. However, do note that you can’t walk all the way through the valley and would need to return after you reach the Georgian border station.
Lagodekhi Protected Areas has several trails to hike, with Black Rock Lake being the most famous one requiring several days. However, Ninoskhevi waterfall trail is only 8.5 km-long and needs around six hours to cover. The trail goes along the Ninoskgevi river on a narrow path. The sound of the river, huge stones, the little waterfalls, and cool breeze of the valley make the trip highly adventurous and entertaining. The 40-meter-long Ninoskhevi waterfall is considered to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the country.
Khada is a hidden tiny gorge below mountains of Gudauri, making the area less touristy and calm with breathtaking views of the area. The gorge was a historic ethnographic part that defended the road between Southern and Northern Caucasus with 60 towers. Several still standing towers, a gorgeous waterfall, impressive graves, and tasty mineral spring water awaits you here. The route starts in Bedoni village, below Jvari Pass and is only about 8 km long, where you can have a picnic along the way and relax from the busy cities you have explored before.
Tbikeli Lake is another gem of Kintrishi park that requires several days to hike up. However, if you take a jeep towards to Khino village and stay overnight, you can easily reach the lake and come back in a day. The trail from the village to the lake is 12 km long offering lush nature, and exceptional views once you walk above the treeline.
Located in Tusheti region, the route to Oreti Lake makes for a perfect one-day hike opportunity. The 27 km long trail in total starts at the village of Kumelaurta village south of Omalo and goes up to the lake. The best time to hike up here is the early summer when the water level is high and nature is in bloom.
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