Dilijan National Park

Armenia is mostly dry high plateau, which makes Dilijan's forests startling: steep hillsides of beech, oak and hornbeam so thick that Armenians call the town Little Switzerland. Inside the forest sit two of the country's most atmospheric monasteries, Haghartsin, restored and set in a clearing among trees, and Goshavank at the village of Gosh, with a celebrated intricately carved khachkar. Lake Parz is a short walk or drive from town with boats and a zip line. The Transcaucasian Trail runs through here, and the section from Dilijan to Parz Lake is one of the best-marked day walks in the country. The town centre keeps a restored street of nineteenth-century wooden-balconied houses and craft workshops.

History

The forests were first protected as a state nature reserve in 1958, formed from the former Dilijan and Kuybyshev forest enterprises, and in 2002 the reserve became a national park on the same territory, since commercial activity, villages, the mineral-water resorts of Dilijan and the Yerevan-Ijevan railway made strict reserve status unworkable. In 2017-2018 its trails were restored and an 80-kilometre section of the Transcaucasian Trail was added (Wikipedia, Dilijan National Park).

What's there

• Haghartsin Monastery - an eleventh to thirteenth-century complex in a forest clearing.
• Goshavank - a monastery with one of Armenia's finest carved khachkars.
• Lake Parz - a small forest lake with boats, an easy walk from town.
• The Transcaucasian Trail - waymarked forest sections around Dilijan.

When to go

May to October, with October giving the beech colour that makes the drive worth it on its own. Winter brings snow and the forest is beautiful but the trails are hard going.

Things to know

The town itself is modest and much of it is Soviet-era construction rather than the restored old street, which surprises people expecting an alpine resort. Trails are marked but ticks are present in the forest in warm months and worth checking for. Haghartsin was heavily restored with foreign funding and now looks newer than its age.

Nearby

Lake Sevan is half an hour east; Yerevan is around two hours south.

Key facts