Koruldi Lakes: Mestia Travel Guide (4.7★)

A ridge of water above the towers

Mestia sits low in its valley, crowded with stone Svan towers. Koruldi Lakes sit far above them, on a bare green shoulder of the Caucasus at roughly 2,700m. Up there the tree line is well below you, and the twin peaks of Ushba fill the eastern sky.

The lakes themselves are small, shallow and glacial, scattered across rolling meadow. When the air is still, the water holds a mirror image of Ushba’s double summit. That photograph is the reason most people make the climb.

Visitors rate the place highly. Even so, it gets far fewer walkers than the Mestia–Ushguli trek, and the ridge often feels empty.

The climb, step by step

This is a real ascent. Mestia lies at around 1,500m, so on foot you gain about 1,200m before you reach the water. Most fit walkers need four to five hours up and three or so down.

The route runs in three stages:

• Town to the forest edge: you climb steeply out of the northern side of Mestia on zigzagging paths through pine and birch.
• The Cross of Mestia: a large cross on an open viewpoint at roughly two-thirds height, looking straight down onto the towers.
• The final ridge: a gentler, exposed walk over grassy slopes to the lakes, with Ushba ahead of you.

The jeep track and the footpath cross and run beside each other in places. Keep the valley on your shoulder and the ridge ahead, and the way is hard to lose in clear weather.

Shortcuts for tired legs

Not everyone wants a 1,200m day. Drivers in Mestia run 4x4s up the rough track toward the cross and on toward the lakes. Many people ride up and walk down, which turns the day into a few hours of mostly downhill walking.

The track is rutted and steep. Ordinary hire cars shouldn’t attempt it. Agree the fare, the drop-off point and any return pickup with the driver before you set off.

When the ridge is open

Snow covers the upper slopes for much of the year. The usual hiking window runs from about late June to early October, though snowmelt varies from year to year. Ask your guesthouse what the top looked like that week.

Mountain weather here often turns in the afternoon, when cloud builds around the peaks. Starting early gives you the best odds of a clear view of Ushba and still water. It also gets you off the exposed ridge before any storm. At the top it can be cold and windy even in August.

Sharing the trail with cows and jeeps

The meadows on the ridge are working summer pasture. Expect cattle on the path and sometimes shepherds’ dogs. Give the herds room, walk calmly past the dogs, and close any gate you open.

Practical habits that make the day easier:

• Carry cash in Georgian lari for jeep drivers. Card machines don’t exist on a hillside.
• Bring all your water and food. Don’t count on buying anything along the route.
• Pack layers and a shell. The cross and the lakes are fully exposed.
• Download an offline map before leaving town, because phone signal is patchy.
• Carry out your rubbish. There are no bins on the ridge.

If you speak no Georgian, “gamarjoba” (hello) and “madloba” (thank you) go a long way with drivers and shepherds. Russian is also widely understood among older Svans.

Back down in Mestia

Coming down, the towers grow bigger at every switchback. Spend the evening in town. The Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography holds medieval icons and manuscripts from the region’s churches. The Margiani House museum lets you see inside a traditional Svan home and tower.

For another day on the trails, the Chalaadi Glacier walk is gentler. Across the valley, the Hatsvali lift area gives a different angle on Ushba. Many visitors spend three or four nights in Mestia so they can wait out a cloudy day and still get the lakes in sunshine.

Mestia is reached by minibus or shared taxi from Zugdidi along a winding mountain road. There are also small-plane flights from Tbilisi, which are weather-dependent.