Zekari Pass
A 2,182 m pass over the Meskheti Range — an old caravan road linking Sairme resort with Abastumani by one glorious jeep track.
- Time needed
- 3 h
- From Tbilisi
- 305 km · 5:30
- Road
- 4x4 only
- Car needed
- Off-road 4x4
- Season
- June–September
- Entry
- free
Zekari is the road where Colchic forest turns into alpine meadow in a single day. This pass over the Meskheti Range (2,182 m) tied Imereti and Samtskhe-Javakheti together for centuries — the caravan road between Kutaisi and Akhaltsikhe ran right here. In 1893 the British parliamentarian and traveller H. F. B. Lynch described the view as "a prospect at once so grand and so instructive".
Today it is a roughly 39 km unpaved stretch (SH14) between Sairme and Abastumani — one of the best-known off-road routes in western Georgia. From the Sairme side the track winds through deep forest, then climbs onto meadows dotted with shepherds' summer camps; over the top it drops along the fringes of Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park into Abastumani, where the USSR's first high-mountain observatory opened in 1932.
The driving is rough: rocks, deep ruts, and mud after rain. In exchange, both flanks of the pass are in full flower in July and August, and the view runs from the Greater Caucasus to the Meskheti summits. Snow blocks the road for most of the year — the realistic window is late June to September.
Practical advice
A genuine 4x4 and a confident driver only — after rain the track stops even soft-roaders. Before setting out, ask in Sairme or Baghdati whether vehicles have been getting through that week. Carry a full tank, food and warm layers; there is nothing on the pass itself. Shepherd dogs are assertive, so step out of the car carefully. Expect no mobile signal for long stretches.
How to get there from Tbilisi
From Tbilisi take the E60 to Zestafoni, then the Baghdati–Sairme road — about 280 km to Sairme, asphalt all the way. From Sairme it is ~25 km of hard dirt and rock to the pass, worth 1.5–2 hours; around 305 km and 5:30 in total, with another ~15 km down to Abastumani. The route runs in summer only and only with an offroad-category vehicle. Fill up in Baghdati — there is no fuel after Sairme.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Nearby places
Sairme Resort
A mineral water resort in a wooded gorge near Baghdati, at around 950 metres.
Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory
The first mountain observatory in the region, on Mount Kanobili above the old lung-cure resort of Abastumani.
Baghdati — Mayakovsky House-Museum
The birthplace of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, in a small Imeretian town on the Khanistsqali.
Best car for this trip
Guides
- Do You Need a 4x4 in Georgia? We rate the road surface and the minimum car class for all 267 places in our database. 227 of them need nothin
- Winter Driving in Georgia: What Closes, What Opens, Which Car Of the 267 places we map, 161 are in season in winter and 52 are flagged as not reachable year-round. The pass
Pickup locations
Car Rental at Kutaisi Airport — 50 km (straight line)