Lagodekhi Protected Areas, at an altitude of 590-3500 m in the Greater Caucasus Mountains that border Azerbaijan, is said to be one of the world’s best-preserved, offering a diversity of natural landscapes, flora and fauna. 

The way to the Lagodekhi Protected Area is clearly signposted from the central road once you drive into Lagodekhi town. 

There is good parking and an administrative building (197 Vashlovani St. Lagodekhi, OPEN 9 AM - 6 PM) with an exhibition hall, where you can learn a bit about the area before you head in, including safety rules and which route to choose.

Photo by: Miqael Kavtaradze

The Protected Areas are made up of two parts: the Lagodekhi Nature Reserve (19749 ha) and the Managed Reserve (4702 ha). The latter provides visitors ideal conditions for discovering nature via its recently updated infrastructure development of trails (and some attempts to make a small educational trail for children, which has since been vandalized to the extent it's unclear which route the children are supposed to follow). 

 At present there are five breathtaking, safe and clearly marked trails in managed reserve of Lagodekhi Protected Areas: the Black Grouse Waterfall (9.5km, difficulty: Average, see below), Ninoskhevi Waterfall (8.48km, difficulty: Average), Machi Castle (10.46 km, difficulty: Average), Black Rock Lake (48 km, 3 days, horseback, difficulty: Average) and the kids' Nature Interpretation Path (mentioned above).

Photo by: Ivane Goliadze 

Having a young family with us, we took the Black Grouse trail, an easy trail, clearly marked by painted signs on trees and rocks. It runs through the forest for a time before uniting with the Shromaiskhevi river, which the trial crosses twice. Most of the trail is forested and the small 6m Rocho waterfall at the end is a treasure worth walking for! Those in the know should keep their eyes open for hornbeam (400-600 m above sea level) which are said to be rare in the Caucasus, ash, lime, maple, elm, and chestnut.

Photo by: Paata Vardanashvili