Trails in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

One of Georgia’s best-organised trail networks

Most of Georgia’s serious hiking, and most of the attention it gets in guidebooks and online, happens in the high Caucasus — Kazbegi, Svaneti, Tusheti — where trails are often unmarked beyond the occasional cairn and route-finding is part of the challenge, and where a wrong turn in poor visibility can mean a genuinely difficult afternoon rather than a minor inconvenience.

Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, in the Lesser Caucasus south of the main range, is a different kind of hiking altogether: a numbered network of marked, maintained trails through dense mixed and coniferous forest, set up with day walkers as much as multi-day trekkers in mind. It is also, at close to 85,000 hectares, one of the largest protected areas in the Caucasus, stretching from the spa town of Borjomi in the east to Abastumani and the edge of Kharagauli in the west.

If your image of Georgian hiking is scrambling over scree with a GPS track as your only guide, this park is the corrective — it rewards a shorter, better-supported day out just as much as an ambitious multi-day crossing.

A forest with an imperial history

Borjomi’s forests were a retreat for Russian imperial and Georgian noble families long before the national park existed in its current form — the Romanovs built a summer residence in the Borjomi gorge in the nineteenth century, drawn by the same mineral springs and cool mountain air that still bring visitors to the town today, and the surrounding forest was managed for generations as a hunting reserve rather than left to grow untouched.

That history is part of why the park’s lower forests feel so mature and continuous today, and it also explains the presence of species like red deer, which were part of the historical hunting stock and remain part of the park’s wildlife alongside brown bear, lynx and a substantial bird population, most of which stays well away from the marked trails and is rarely seen by day hikers.

Registering at the entrance

Borjomi-Kharagauli operates a visitor centre at the Likani entrance where day hikers register before setting out — a straightforward process, generally free or low-cost for the short trails, that also gives the park a record of who is out on the network at any given time. Staff at the centre can advise on which numbered trail suits the time and fitness level available, and can flag any temporary closures, which do happen occasionally after storms bring down trees across a section of path. This registration step is worth treating as routine rather than optional — it is also usually where trail maps are handed out, more reliable than trying to navigate purely from memory or a phone screenshot.

The short trails near Borjomi

The Likani entrance, a short taxi ride or a walkable distance from central Borjomi, is where most day hikers start. From there, several numbered trails loop through beech, oak and pine forest along the Mtsvane Kontskhi ridge and neighbouring valleys, ranging from about two hours to a full day depending on which loop you pick and how far you push toward the higher viewpoints.

None of these involve the kind of sustained climbing that defines Georgia’s high-mountain routes; they are closer to a forest ramble with occasional open sections and views back down toward the Borjomi gorge. Trail markers — coloured blazes and numbered posts — are consistent enough that most visitors manage them without a guide, which is unusual for hiking in Georgia and one of the park’s real selling points.

Hiking in Borjomi from Tbilisi covers one of these shorter routes as a day trip from the capital, useful for anyone based in Tbilisi who wants a forest hike without an overnight stay anywhere near Borjomi.

The multi-day crossing to Abastumani

Beyond the short loops, the park’s signature route is a multi-day traverse from the Borjomi side, climbing up through the forest belt and over the Lesser Caucasus ridge toward Abastumani, a smaller spa town on the park’s western edge. This is commonly split into three days, using a chain of the park’s own mountain huts, and involves real elevation gain — from Borjomi’s roughly 800m up past 2,000m at the highest points on the ridge, through changing forest types along the way, from broadleaf lower down to spruce and fir higher up, before dropping toward Abastumani.

It is a genuine multi-day hike, not an extension of the valley loops near Likani, and anyone attempting it should treat it with the same seriousness as Trails in Svaneti rather than as a longer version of an afternoon walk.

Hut space along the crossing is limited, and bookings go through the park administration rather than being available on arrival — worth sorting out well before setting off, particularly in peak summer weeks when demand is highest.

Each day of the crossing has its own character. The first climbs steadily out of the Borjomi gorge through dense forest with few open views until the treeline, which can feel slow going but sets up the payoff of the second day, when the trail breaks into open alpine meadow along the main ridge with long views across the Lesser Caucasus in clear weather — genuinely some of the best ridge walking available in this part of Georgia, and a different kind of scenery entirely from the enclosed forest walking near Likani. The final day descends through Abastumani’s own belt of forest, ending in a smaller, quieter spa town than Borjomi itself, with its own set of mineral baths and a noticeably more low-key atmosphere.

Weather on the ridge versus the valley

Weather inside the park’s forested valleys and weather on the exposed ridge sections of the multi-day crossing can differ substantially on the same day — a warm, still morning at Likani says little about conditions several hundred metres higher on the ridge, where wind and sudden cloud are common even in summer. This gap matters most for anyone attempting the full crossing, where a full day is spent above the treeline with limited shelter, and it is one more reason the multi-day route deserves more careful weather-checking than the short forest loops, which stay under tree cover for almost their entire length and are far more forgiving of a change in conditions partway through.

Access from the western side

Kharagauli and Abastumani give access to the park from the west, more relevant for anyone approaching from Kutaisi or Akhaltsikhe rather than Tbilisi. 13 Km Hiking Tour from Kutaisi to Borjomi runs a route between the two sides, useful for travellers moving between Imereti and Samtskhe who want to see part of the park’s trail network en route rather than as a dedicated hiking day.

Season and what changes through the year

The lower forest trails near Likani are walkable from spring through late autumn, with the forest canopy giving useful shade in the height of summer when Borjomi’s valley floor gets warm. The higher ridge sections, including the multi-day crossing, keep a shorter window — realistically June to early October — since snow lingers on the ridge into late spring and the huts are not maintained for winter use.

Autumn brings the best light for the forest sections, with the beech and oak turning colour through late September and October, though shortening days mean less margin for a longer day hike. When the Georgian hiking season actually opens covers how this compares with the country’s higher mountain trails further north.

Winter turns the park into a different kind of destination altogether: nearby Bakuriani, just over the ridge from the park’s eastern edge, becomes a ski base, and some of the lower forest around Borjomi is walkable on cleared paths even with snow further up. Bakuriani: Snowshoe Hike in Lesser Caucasus covers a winter alternative in the same mountain range for anyone visiting outside the main hiking season.

Camping and the huts along the multi-day route

For the crossing to Abastumani, accommodation is limited to the park’s own huts, spaced roughly a day’s walk apart — simple but generally better equipped than the most basic mountain shelters elsewhere in Georgia, since this park has invested more consistently in trail infrastructure than most.

Camping outside the designated hut sites is generally discouraged within the protected area, both to limit environmental impact across such heavily used ground and because the huts exist precisely to avoid the need for it. Anyone considering the multi-day route should confirm current hut capacity and booking procedure directly with the park administration well before setting off, since availability can be tighter than the short day trails would suggest, particularly in the peak weeks of July and August.

What a guide adds here versus elsewhere

Because Borjomi-Kharagauli’s trails are unusually well marked by Georgian standards, a guide is less of a necessity here than for a route like Trekking in Tusheti or the more exposed sections of Climbing Mount Kazbek. Where a guide earns their cost is on the multi-day crossing, where local knowledge of current hut conditions, weather patterns on the ridge and the best pacing between huts can turn a demanding three days into a genuinely enjoyable one, and on any of the trails if the goal is spotting wildlife or understanding the forest ecology rather than simply covering distance.

Combining the park with the rest of Borjomi

A short morning trail from Likani, back in town by early afternoon for Borjomi’s mineral water park and springs, is one of the more natural half-day-plus-half-day combinations in the country — see Borjomi water at the source for that side of a visit, and Borjomi in a day for how the wider town fits alongside a shorter trail.

For anyone extending the trip further south, Vardzia: Queen Tamar’s cave city and Rabati Fortress: a restoration that divides Georgians both sit within a reasonable onward drive from Borjomi, making the national park a natural first stop on a longer Samtskhe loop rather than a stand-alone destination.

Trail markers and what the numbers mean

Borjomi-Kharagauli’s numbered trail system is one of the more consistent in Georgia, with coloured blazes painted on trees and rocks at regular intervals and numbered wooden posts at junctions, a level of waymarking that most of Georgia’s high-mountain routes simply do not have.

Trails are generally graded by difficulty and length at the entrance information boards, which makes it realistic to choose a route on the day based on available time and energy rather than needing to have committed to a specific plan weeks in advance. That said, the numbering and signage are best near the Likani entrance and thin out somewhat on the less-used western approaches near Kharagauli, where fewer day hikers pass through and maintenance is correspondingly less frequent.

Photography and the best time of day

The forest sections photograph best in the softer light of early morning, when mist often sits in the lower valleys and filters through the canopy — a fairly reliable effect on clear mornings, especially in the cooler shoulder months. The ridge views on the multi-day crossing are at their most dramatic in the hour after sunrise or before sunset, when long shadows pick out the folds of the Lesser Caucasus in a way that flat midday light does not. Autumn, when the beech and oak forest turns through yellow, orange and rust, is generally considered the single best season for photography in the park, though it is also when daylight hours are shortest, which limits how late in the day a longer route can be safely finished.

How this park differs from Georgia’s high-mountain hiking

It is worth being direct about what Borjomi-Kharagauli is and is not. This is not a place to come for the scale of Climbing Mount Kazbek or the remoteness of Trekking in Tusheti — there is no glacier, no genuine high-altitude exposure, and even the multi-day crossing tops out well below 2,500m.

What it offers instead is reliability: well-marked trails, a functioning hut system, forest that stays walkable across a longer season than the high Caucasus, and an entrance you can reach from Tbilisi by train or marshrutka rather than needing a full expedition-style trip. For a first multi-day hiking experience in Georgia, or for anyone who wants forest walking without the logistics of a border permit or a mountain guide, this park is arguably the easiest genuine hiking destination in the country to plan around.

Getting there and where to stay

Marshrutkas and a scenic narrow-gauge-adjacent train service run from Tbilisi to Borjomi in around two and a half hours; see Georgian trains, including the night train to Zugdidi for how the rail option compares with the road, and Renting a car in Georgia if self-driving suits the rest of your trip better.

Borjomi itself has enough guesthouses and hotels for an overnight stay before an early trailhead start, which matters more for the longer multi-day route than for the short Likani loops, where a same-day return from Tbilisi is realistic if you leave early. For gear and guide advice that applies equally here, see Guides, gear and mountain rescue in Georgia, and for how this park compares with Georgia’s higher-altitude trekking regions, Which Georgian mountain range should you pick? is a useful place to start.

Practical notes before you set off

Mobile signal is generally reliable near the Likani entrance and along the lower forest loops, but thins out on the higher sections of the multi-day crossing, particularly in the deeper valleys between ridge sections — worth downloading an offline map before setting off rather than relying on a connection appearing when needed. Drinking water sources exist along the marked routes, mostly streams, and treating water is the sensible default rather than assuming any particular source is safe simply because it looks clean. Weekday visits to the short trails near Likani are noticeably quieter than weekends, when day-tripping Tbilisi residents make up a large share of the foot traffic, particularly through summer.

Why this park is worth building a whole day around

It is easy to treat Borjomi-Kharagauli as a minor add-on to a spa town visit, squeezed in between the mineral water park and lunch, and for a short trail that can work perfectly well. But the park rewards a fuller day, or the multi-day crossing, more generously than that framing suggests — few places in Georgia combine this level of trail infrastructure with genuine forest scale and a real sense of being away from any town, and visitors who allow it the time it deserves consistently come away rating it higher than they expected going in.

Frequently asked questions about Borjomi-Kharagauli’s trails

The questions below cover access, permits and how the park’s short and multi-day trails differ.

Is Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park worth visiting for hiking?

Yes, for anyone who wants forested mountain trails without the multi-day commitment of Svaneti or Tusheti. The park has one of Georgia’s better-marked and better-maintained trail systems, and several routes work as a single, non-technical day out from Borjomi.

How do you get to the park entrance from Tbilisi?

By marshrutka or train to Borjomi, about two and a half hours from Tbilisi, then a short taxi or walk to the Likani entrance on the eastern side of the park. The western entrance near Kharagauli and Abastumani is a separate access point, more relevant if approaching from Kutaisi or Akhaltsikhe.

Do you need a permit to hike in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park?

Day hikers on the marked trails generally register at the entrance rather than needing an advance permit, but anyone planning the multi-day crossing and an overnight in the park’s huts should book accommodation ahead through the park administration, since capacity is limited.

How long is the multi-day trail across the park?

The full traverse from the Borjomi (Likani) side to the Abastumani side runs several days, commonly split into three, using the park’s mountain huts along the way. It is a serious hike with real elevation gain, not an extension of the short valley walks near Borjomi.

When is the best time to hike in Borjomi-Kharagauli?

June to early October for the higher trails, with the lower forest loops near Likani walkable somewhat earlier and later. Snow can close the ridge sections into early June some years, and the park’s huts are not set up for winter stays.

Can you combine Borjomi hiking with the town’s mineral water and spa attractions?

Easily — a short morning trail from the Likani entrance, back in Borjomi by early afternoon for the park and mineral water springs, is a common combination. See Borjomi water at the source for the town side of a visit.