Shaki Waterfall

The Shaki fall drops about eighteen metres over a basalt lip on a tributary of the Vorotan a few kilometres from Sisian, into a small gorge of columnar rock. The important thing to know is that the river above it feeds a small hydroelectric station, and when the station is drawing water the fall reduces to a trickle or stops. It runs most reliably in spring and early summer when there is more water than the scheme takes.

What you actually see

• The fall - an eighteen-metre drop over a basalt lip into a rocky gorge.
• The columnar basalt - hexagonal rock in the walls around the pool.
• The gorge - a short narrow cut below the fall.
• The meadow above - open grass and flowers on the approach in early summer.

When to go

May to July, after the snowmelt, is when the fall runs most reliably. Late summer and autumn it is often dry because of the hydro abstraction. Asking in Sisian whether it is running saves a wasted trip.

Honest expectations

The fall genuinely does stop: visitors regularly arrive to find bare rock. It is small and the visit takes half an hour. The path down to the base is short but slippery.

Nearby

Sisian is six kilometres east, and Carahunge is on the other side of the town.