Javakheti National Park

Javakheti National Park is located in the south of Georgia, on the border with Armenia and Turkey. Here you can spend your week exploring the diverse local flora and fauna found in several high altitude volcanic lakes. Some villages in the area have a specific architecture of one-story stone houses covered with grass roofs and some others are believed to have been built in the 2nd millennium BC, so if you are a nature, history or just outdoor enthusiast, Javakheti will take you on a whole different journey.

Distance: 200km from Tbilisi (3 hours)
Best for: Bird-watching, Mountain-biking, Day Hikes
Best time: June – October, or January-February (For frozen lake panoramas).
Addon: You can explore Javakheti volcanic plateau towards Bakuriani, as an extension to your trip.

How to Get

Public Transport

Traveling to Javakheti National Park is recommended with your own vehicle, unless your winter snowmobile trip or summer ATV trip starts from Bakuriani, in which case you can take a minibus. from Didube Bus Station.

Private vehicle

We recommend that you have a 4WD vehicle, but it’s not absolutely necessary, as most of the large lakes and sights can be reached on an asphalt road, either from Tbilisi – Tsalka road, or from Tbilisi – Bakuriani road (in the latter case, you will also have the opportunity to visit Borjomi National Park).

Bicycle

In general, the area is excellent for biking, especially electric bikes, to cover long distances while still enjoying the picturesque volcanic scenery. There are many different backcountry roads leading to Javakheti National Park, some more suitable for road bikers, others for mountain bikers.

Eat and Sleep

There are supermarkets, cafes or restaurants in the area, but only in the larger villages or towns, such as Ninotsminda, Akhalkalaki, etc., but even in small villages you may be able to find family-run cafes. Just ask the locals for directions. For more details, see the map at the top of this page.
You’ll be able to find water in any settlement in the area, but if you decide to go hiking, make sure you bring enough water, as some natural springs may run dry during the dry season of July-August.
There are no fancy hotels in Javakheti (except Bakuriani, which is a bit far from the National Park, but could still be a viable option for exploring the Didi Abuli range), but you can find some basic hotels and cozy family-run guesthouses. You can also camp outside the settlements, but be careful not to get too close to the shepherds’ huts, as their dogs are very territorial.
For accommodation in Javakheti, see our map at the top of this page.

What to Do

Bird & animal watching

100+ species of nesting and migrating birds can be seen in Javakheti area, especially by the embankments of various lakes found in the national park, including Madatapa, Kartsakhi and Bugdasheni lakes.

Offroad

Javakheti is excellent for 4WD drivers, as well as motorcycles and ATVs. The main sights can be reached by paved road, for more wild experiences you will have to drive on dirt roads or even untracked grass fields. Much of the Abuli massif is unmarked with no trails, so you will have to rely on GPS and internal navigation.

Motorcycle enthusiasts can start their trips directly from Tbilisi, as there are various backcountry trails leading to the Javakheti plateau, as for ATV tours it’s better to start from Bakuriani, as it provides good enough proximity to be back to the hotel in Bakuriani by evening.

Cycling & mountain biking

You can either drive to Javakheti region and start cycling, or arrive in Bakuriani and explore from there, or start directly from Tbilisi. The latter route goes through Trialeti and Algeti National Parks and comes into Javakheti from the northwest part, from Cholmani village, although other routes are also possible.

The route from Bakuriani goes through Tabatskuri Lake, which can lead either to passing the Abuli mountain range completely or to going around it via Akhalkalaki town.

Cycling around Javakheti is relatively easy, there are no massive ups and downs, while the open landscape makes it easy to navigate.

Hiking

There are various hikes that could be done around Javakheti area, so we will write 3, according to their difficulty:

Easy: Arrive by car near Paravani Lake Abuli Fortress, 2 millennium BC building on the top of the volcano. You can start your hike either from Abuli Lake or even from the bottom of the volcano. It’s a relatively small hill.

Medium: Start your trek from the eastern side of the Abuli Range, we suggest the village of Patara Samsari, and hike to the western side of the range, towards Paravani Lake. On this trek you will probably need to spend the night somewhere near Lake Paravani or Mount Godorebi, so bring your tent and a warm sleeping bag. On the way down to Paravani Lake we suggest you visit Korogli Castle, just a small 350m hike up to the top of a small volcano.

Difficult: This is the trip that we, “Adventure Georgia”, haven’t done yet, but it is in our plans to do. Trip passes through Abuli range from north to south, covering about 100km through the highlands of Javakheti area. The trip starts near the village of Gagluantubani, climbs towards the Javakheti plateau north of the village of Khando and follows the Abuli Range to the Abuli Fortress.

Snowmobile

Covered with snow from the end of November to the end of March, the Javakheti region, especially Lake Tabatskuri and the Abuli Range, is a great snowmobile destination. Tours depart from Bakuriani and can be arranged in a variety of ways, both 1 day and multi-day tours. Some previous experience of snowmobiling is recommended but not necessary.

The snowmobile tour starts in Bakuriani, passes through the village of Didi Mitarbi, climbs towards the Tabatskuri lake and reaches the Black Mountain volcano. The trip can be done in one or two days, depending on the size of the group and the speed.