Syunik, Armenia
A guide to 150km (8–12 days) of hiking on the Transcaucasian Trail
This guide will help you plan a self-supported hike along a 139km section of the Transcaucasian Trail (known regionally as the Legends Trail), which passes through the gorges and forests of Syunik province in southern Armenia. Here you’ll find practical information, trail notes, and GPS downloads with which to plan your hike.
This 139km stage of the Transcaucasian Trail weaves through the remote southern Syunik province of Armenia, stretching from Goris to Shishkert via Tatev, Kapan, and the summit of the mighty Mount Khustup.
Self-sufficient thru-hikers will find plentiful wild-camping opportunities, giving you flexibility in terms of your schedule and level of challenge. For those wishing to spend their nights indoors, guesthouse accommodation is available in many villages along or near the route.
Much of our suggested route through Syunik overlaps with the regional long-distance Legends Trail, developed between 2018 and 2021 by our friends at People In Need Armenia and ARK Armenia with the financial support of the European Union. Many thanks to the volunteers, both local and international, whose hard work in 2019 and 2020 resulted in the improvement of many additional parts of the route. Yet more stages and several side routes have been built, maintained and signposted by our friends at Trails For Change and Barev Trails.
Please note that the most recent version of the route published here may differ from that published in the printed guidebook and on third-party websites. More information on route changes can be found on the Map & Trail Notes page.
Dive Deep into Local Lore with the Syunik Legends Trail Hiking Guidebook!
As well as ultra-detailed 1:25,000 topographic maps and written descriptions of each trail stage, this comprehensive pocket guidebook to the Legends Trail provides historical, background and practical information on all of the places and points of interest you’ll visit along the way, listings of accommodation and other services along the route, and guides to the many and varied side routes and excursions you can take from the main route of the trail. It also includes detailed advice on travel to and within Armenia, practical information you’ll need to know in advance of arriving in the country, and a lot more besides.
Explore Every Corner of the Vorotan Canyon!
If exploring a wild, spectacular gorge full of millenia-old monasteries and hermitages sounds like your kind of hiking adventure, you might be interested in this all-new topographic hiking map of Tatev and the Vorotan Canyon!
At the ultra-detailed scale of 1:25,000, this full-colour folding sheet map includes the long-distance Transcaucasian Trail and Legends Trail routes through the region, as well as 19 additional marked and signposted trails, 10m-interval contours, and additional historic sites and villages – which are not yet on the official trail network, but are still ready to be explored by the most intrepid of travellers.
Important Disclaimer
The TCTA strives to provide accurate, current information as to trail conditions and the trail route. However, actual trail conditions may be different, and such information may not be accurate or complete. Trail users are urged to consider all the information available from other sources and to heed local advice when available. Trail users are ultimately responsible for all decisions as to the trail routes, trail conditions, weather, and safety.
In addition to the hazards posed by steep terrain and mountain weather, hikers should be prepared for difficult route-finding and challenging trail conditions, the possibility of washed-out bridges and dangerous river crossings in high water, aggressive dogs guarding sheep and cattle, giant hogweed, and frequent summer thunderstorms with extremely intensive periods of lightning. Access to emergency medical care and search and rescue is not always available.
Menu
Route Downloads
Recommended Apps
You can also find this trail on the following popular hiking and navigation platforms:
Get the guidebook
Partners & Sponsors
This section of the Transcaucasian Trail was developed between 2016–2021 in partnership with the following organizations, as well as with the support of individual donors to the Transcaucasian Trail Association.
To become a TCTA member and support more trail development projects like this one, join here.
