Since 2015, the Transcaucasian Trail Association (TCTA) has been developing a 3,000km hiking trail across the Caucasus Mountains. The finished Transcaucasian Trail (TCT) will consist of two 1,500km sections spanning Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
The northern route follows the Greater Caucasus Mountains and connects the Black and Caspian Seas. The southern route spans the Lesser Caucasus Mountains from the Black Sea to the Aras River.
While the trail is still being developed in Azerbaijan, there are currently hundreds of kilometres of trail open to the public. The TCTA hope that a 1,200km route from northwest Georgia to southern Armenia will be fully open by 2022.
Through Armenia
Likewise, an 832km traverse across the entire country of Armenia will be available by next year. This will will be the first section that spans an entire country. Recently, a three-person team just finished thru-hiking the route, adding waypoints and making small adjustments. One of them, Tom Allen, tweeted details of their successful trek.
Meagan Neal, a director of the TCTA told BBC Travel that she wants hikers to experience the “richness of the Caucasus, culturally, geographically, linguistically”. The region includes over 40 indigenous languages.
Photo: transcaucasiantrail.org
The rich number of species along the trail has made it one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. The TCT passes near Elbrus (5,642m), dense forests, alpine meadows, and volcanic plateaus, as well as a 1,500-year-old church and other ancient architecture.
Snow covers the trail for six months a year, so volunteers did their work exclusively in summer. Initially, many trails in the Caucasus were unmarked and difficult to follow, so they added signage and linked different hiking trails across the three countries. Regional politics added to the weather difficulties: Sections of the route had to be diverted because of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The COVID-19 pandemic added further delays. Work has resumed at last.
Photo: transcaucasiantrail.org
Some sections now open
Currently, trails are open to the public in Upper Svaneti–Racha in Georgia, and in Dilijan National Park, the Gegham Mountains, and Vayots Dzor province in Armenia. These sections take between 5 to 10 days to complete.
The full route needs about three months to hike. It will pass through more than 20 national parks, several UNESCO sites, and many protected areas in the three countries.
Photo: transcaucasiantrail.org
