Kazbegi National Park

Kazbegi National Park is a very popular destination for both locals and foreigners. Here you can choose a wide range of adventure activities, as well as culturally immersive experiences. The national park is divided into several areas, such as Truso Valley, Sno Valley, Juta-Chaukhi area, Mt. Kazbek and Dariali Valley. Join groups or go on a private trip to enjoy magnificent panoramas of the North Caucasus mountains.

Distance: 155km from Tbilisi (3 hours)
Best for: Hiking, Cycling, Climbing, Skiing
Best time: All seasons
Addon: You can hike/cycle to Pshav-Khevsureti National Park via Chaukhi or Sadzele pass.

How to Get

Public Transport

You can take a Tbilisi-Stepantsminda mini-bus (Marshrutka) from Didube station. Departures are frequent, especially in the summer, and can be crowded. The seats are tiny and not very comfortable. Also, these vehicles don’t stop at the main sights on the way to Kazbegi and you will miss a lot.

Shared taxi

From the same Didube station you can join a shared taxi ride (just look for a vehicle with Kazbegi or Stepantsminda written on it). These are actually private vehicles shared by tourists or locals to get to Stepantsminda town. You can also pay for all the seats and enjoy your private ride.
If you are coming from the Russian side, you can join the same shared taxis from Vladikavkaz.

Private vehicle

You can drive to Kazbegi area with any vehicle, as roads are well maintained (except in winter, when 4wd vehicles with winter tires are required). Be aware that the roads have high amount of traffic, sometimes long cargo jams and occasional fog on the pass.

Backpacking

You can get to Kazbegi National Park through 3 main routes:

• Hiking or biking through Gudamakari valley, which starts from Pasanauri village and finally descends to Sno valley.
• From Mleta village you can hike to Kelitsadi lake and reach Truso valley after 2-3 days. This is a hard trek and requires good physical condition.
• You can also reach Kazbegi National Park from Pshav-Khevsureti National Park via Roshka-Chaukhi-Juta trek, which is a challenging but spectacularly beautiful route.

Eat and Sleep

Depending on which valley you want to visit, there are different options. For example, Dariali and Truso valleys have no cafes, restaurants or supermarkets nearby. Juta village and Chaukhi have plenty of small huts and cafes where you can enjoy tasty mountain meals. If you are trekking to the Kazbek Glacier, Altihut has a nice cafe with an amazing view.

Most likely you’ll stay in Stepantsminda village, where you can find various types of cafes & restaurants. Rooms Hotel has relatively expensive, but correspondingly great service and cuisine. For more budget friendly options you can visit cafes near the town square.

Tap water in Kazbegi is potable. During treks, there are plenty of springs, but still have bottled water for more convenience.

There are many accommodation options in the Kazbegi area, from expensive and high quality hotels to family run guesthouses and hostels.

What to Do

Hiking

Although there are many hiking trails in Kazbegi National Park, 3 are the most popular:

• Juta-Chaukhi – 30 minutes drive from Stepantsminda, Juta village has a picturesque hiking trail to Chaukhi cliffs, a massive natural monument with various species of birds (Cuacas Black Grouse, Caucasian Snowcock, Ring Ouzel, Alpine Chough, Red-billed Chough, Great Rosefinch, Güldenstädt’s Redstart). If you are planning a half-day trek, we suggest you to go to Tina Lake, but for a full-day trek you can go up to Chaukhi Pass.
• For a multi-day trek, you can trek across the Chaukhi pass, descend to the Abudelauri lakes, or even trek all the way to Roshka village.
• Mt. Kazbek – Starting from Stepantsminda village you can hike to Mt. Kazbek glacier, or even to Meteo Station at 3600m altitude, but you’ll have to cross the glacier, which is not recommended for amateurs. We recommend you to hike to Altihut, which is located at the foot of Mt Kazbek. Here you can enjoy a delicious lunch and head back to Stepantsminda.
• Truso Valley – It’s not really a hike, but more of a walking destination. Big chuck of the route is a dirt road, easily accessible by a 4wd vehicle. Plan this destination for more of a relaxed day to enjoy spectacular abandoned valley with medieval castles, tiny villages, volcanic lakes and colorful travertine.

Cycling & mountain biking

As the main road from Stepantsminda is full of traffic, we suggest taking back roads for cycling or mountain biking. Sno Valley is a good option for an easy trip and has a nice view of Mt. Kazbek. Instead of cycling on a main road, we suggest following a dirt road on a river embankment, which is hardly ever used by cars. The route starts from Achkhoti village, crosses the bridge in the southeastern part of the village. After arriving in the village of Sno, you need to join the main road for 800m, and then take a left off-road route along the river embankment all the way to the bridge near the Akhaltsikhe village bridge.

For mountain bikers, you can extend Sno Valley trip all the way to Gudamakari Pass (you can see the route on the map at the top of this page). The route was originally built for the construction of electric towers, but is no longer used by cars.

Cycling to Truso Valley is much better than hiking, but you have to drive at least to Kobi village. You can also stay in Gudauri for one night and use cable cars to reach Kobi village.

Climbing

Two main climbing destinations in Kazbegi National Park are Mt Kazbek and Mt Chaukhi. Although there are several technically challenging routes on Mt. Kazbek, the main route is more of an ice hike than a climb, which attracts many travelers to earn the 5K mountaineering badge. For overnight, you can stay at either Altihut or Bethlehem hut.
As for Mt. Chaukhi, it’s a relatively low altitude, but still has a better playground for climbing enthusiasts. For overnight stay we suggest you to make your own camp.

Ski, Snowboard, Heliski

You can either take a cable car to the ski resort for skiing, start a ski tour or join a heli-ski trip in Kazbegi National Park.
If you are staying in Stepantsminda village, you’ll have to go to Kobi village to take a cable car that connects Kazbegi and Gudauri area.

For ski touring 2 main destinations are Mt. Kazbek and Chaukhi area. We suggest these routes in spring when the days are longer and the morning snow makes ski touring easier.

Heli-skiing is a big thing in Kazbegi area and Caucasus has some of the best slopes for which the season starts at the end of January and lasts until April.