GeorgiaOfficial tourism
Tusheti Protected Areas

Where shepherds still outnumber tourists

Tusheti Protected Areas

Why go

Tusheti Protected Areas comprise 83,000 hectares of untouched Caucasus wilderness, established in 2003 to preserve one of Europe's last intact highland ecosystems. This is Georgia's most remote protected territory, rising from 900m river gorges to 4,500m peaks along the Dagestan border. Ancient Tush communities have grazed these slopes for millennia, their seasonal migrations and stone defense towers creating a living cultural landscape recognized by UNESCO. The park shelters brown bears, wolves, Bezoar ibex, and the endemic Tushetian sheep. What justifies the brutal 4WD ascent is this: nowhere else in the Caucasus can you trek through old-growth pine forests, sleep in medieval towers converted to guesthouses, and witness shepherds conducting livestock to summer pastures exactly as their ancestors did centuries ago.

On the ground See

  • The village of Dartlo, with its distinctive slate-tower architecture and 12th-century sanctuary stones, where families still inhabit defensive structures built against 18th-century Lezgin raids
  • The Atsunta Pass trek (3,430m), a 3-4 day traverse crossing between Tusheti and Khevsureti through bearded vulture habitat and wild rhododendron valleys
  • The Shenako-Omalo ethno-cultural trail, following transhumance routes to abandoned highland settlements like Diklo, whose towers guarded against northern incursions

Practical Know before you go

Accessible only June through mid-October via the single unpaved Abano Pass (2,850m), which requires 4WD and closes immediately with first snow; no fuel, ATMs, or medical facilities exist in the protected area.

Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · reviewed quarterly