Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

One of Europe's largest national parks, with trails from an hour to a week through forested Caucasus mountains

Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park covers over 85,000 hectares of Caucasus mountain forest, making it one of the largest protected areas in Europe. The terrain ranges from the gorge at Borjomi itself to high alpine meadows and rocky ridges, with beech and pine forests covering the middle elevations. Brown bear, wolf, lynx, chamois, and red deer all live here, though seeing large mammals requires early starts and luck.

The park has an established trail network with several marked routes. The shortest can be walked in half a day from the park entrance at Borjomi; the full traverse from Borjomi to Kharagauli takes four to seven days and covers around 140 kilometres. Huts with basic facilities are available along the longer trails. The visitor centre at the park entrance provides maps and current trail conditions.

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The park was established in 1995 as part of a World Bank environmental project, but it protects land that has been the hunting reserve of Georgian royalty since the 19th century. Tsar Nicholas II visited the adjacent Likani estate repeatedly and used the forests as his personal preserve — the bear and deer that still inhabit the park today are in part descendants of stock protected during that era.

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