Algeti National Park
Algeti National Park is a relatively little visited nature reserve, only 1 hour drive from Tbilisi. Here you can hike or bike through beautiful forests and camp on ridges with picturesque views. Although there is currently only one hiking trail, there are many routes you can take from Algeti, including the route to Trialeti Nature Reserve, or cycling to Dashbashi Canyon.
Size
The nature reserve’s area is 6,822 hectares (or 12,700 football stadiums).
Structure
88% of the reserve is covered by a forest, ranging from 1,100m to 1,950m altitude.
History
The Algeti Nature Reserve was founded in 1965, later became National Park in 2007.
Good to Know
There is a 900-year-old oak forest and 1664 different species of plants in the park.
Distance: 90km from Tbilisi (1.5 hour)
Best for: Hiking, Mountain biking, Offroad
Best time: March – November. Snowshoe hiking is possible during January – February.
Addon: You can add Trialeti nature reserve, situated at the north side, as an extension of your trip.
How to Get
Public Transport
You can take a mini-bus from Tbilisi Central Railway Station to the village of Manglisi and back the same way, although you will have to spend the night there and take a morning minibus.
Private vehicle
The road to Manglisi is well maintained and can be accessed by any type of car. You can also drive a 4wd vehicle and be able to access the inner parts of the park.
Bicycle
There are several routes that can be taken to reach Algeti National Park, one of which starts from Kaspi city and climbs through Trialeti Nature Reserve. Another route starts from Tbilisi, from Lisi Lake and through Tsodoreti and some parts of road #153 you will be at the top of Algeti National Park.
From Algeti you can take another route and pedal towards Javakheti National Park.
Eat and Sleep
Unless you are staying in a guesthouse, we recommend that you bring a packed lunch from Tbilisi. In addition to food, we recommend that you bring enough water for the whole trip, which you can get in Manglisi.
There are several guesthouses in the village of Manglisi or you can camp in the Algeti National Park.
What to Do
Hiking
You can hike the trail shown at the top of this page, which is a relatively easy and moderately long route that covers most of the national park. This is by far the only marked route, but we will post updates if new ones are added in the future.
Mountain Biking
Since the route is not too steep, it can be done by mountain bike. The route from Didi Namtvriani is slightly less steep than the route from Patara Namtvriani.
Other than the official route, you can also follow the Trialeti ridge to either reach the Javakheti plateau, descend to Uplistsikhe or cycle all the way to Tbilisi.