GeorgiaOfficial tourism
Koruldi Lakes

Three mirrors held to Ushba's twin thrones

Koruldi Lakes

Why go

The Koruldi Lakes sit at 2,850 meters on a grassy saddle above Mestia, where three small pools catch reflections of Ushba's 4,710-meter twin summits and the icefall of the Lekhziri glacier. The trail climbs 1,200 meters from the valley through pine forest and open alpine meadows, once used by Svan shepherds moving livestock to summer pastures. The upper lake, nearest the glacier, offers the clearest mirror of Ushba's dramatic east face—one of the Caucasus's most formidable walls, first climbed only in 1960. The lakes themselves are modest, but the framing is singular: glaciated granite rising directly from water you can wade across.

On the ground See

  • The upper lake's reflection of Ushba's double summit at first light, when wind is absent
  • The abandoned Soviet-era astronomical observatory on the ridge, a concrete dome now housing only marmots
  • The Lekhziri glacier's ice tongue, visible from the saddle above the lakes without technical approach

Practical Know before you go

July through September; the trail starts from the Mestia-Tetnuldi cable car base or the village of Lakhiri, taking 6-8 hours round-trip with no water sources above the treeline.

Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · reviewed quarterly