Quick answer
The Juta to Roshka trek is about 18 km with 1,280 m of climbing and 1,360 m of descent, crossing Chaukhi Pass at about 3,340 m. Fit walkers do it in one long day of 8 to 9 hours; most people are happier camping at the Abudelauri Lakes and finishing the next morning. Always walk it from Juta to Roshka, never the reverse. The pass is usually open from late June to early October, with July to September the safe window. Getting to Juta costs about 80 GEL (about $31) from Tbilisi by marshrutka and taxi; getting out of Roshka is the hard part, so arrange a driver before you start.
- Distance
- 18 km
- Pass
- 3,340 m
- Time
- 1 to 2 days
- Season
- Jul to Sep
Georgia has dozens of good hikes. The Mestia to Ushguli trek gets the press and the Kazbegi day-trippers stick to Gergeti. The Juta to Roshka crossing sits in between: short enough for a weekend, high enough to feel like an expedition, and quiet once you are past the day-hike lake. Everything below was checked on 13 September 2026: the route data against caucasus-trekking.com's GPS log and description (updated December 2025) and goingthewholehogg.com's track, the transport situation against wander-lush.org's Juta guide (updated June 2026), driver prices against gotrip.ge, and guesthouse prices against Booking.com for a mid-September night. USD figures use the National Bank of Georgia rate on 12 September 2026 (1 USD = 2.61 GEL).
The trek at a glance
The Chaukhi massif, seven rock towers rising to 3,842 m, fills the view for the whole first half of the walk. On the far side of the pass you drop into Khevsureti, one of the least-visited highland regions in the country, past the three Abudelauri lakes (green, blue and milky white) and a valley floor scattered with glacial erratics the locals call the Roshka stones. The figures are from caucasus-trekking.com's track; your own GPS will disagree by a few hundred metres.
| Detail | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Route | Point to point, Juta to Roshka. 17.8 km direct, a few km more with the White Lake detour |
| Climb and descent | 1,283 m up, 1,360 m down. Juta sits at about 2,200 m, Roshka lower |
| High point | Chaukhi Pass, about 3,340 m (sources give 3,338 to 3,341 m) |
| Difficulty | Moderate from Juta. The descent to the lakes is steep on loose shale; from Roshka the same slope is hard |
| Markings | Blue and white paint on rocks. Decent in the valley, faint near the pass. Carry a GPS track |
| Water | Streams in the Juta valley and at the lakes. Nothing reliable from the upper meadow to the lakes, 3 to 4 hours |
| Phone signal | Some Magti signal in the Juta valley, none from the climb to the lakes, weak in Roshka |
| Permits and fees | None. No park ticket, no registration |
When to go
Chaukhi is one of the highest and steepest walkers' passes in Georgia, so it opens later and closes earlier than the rest. It becomes passable in the second half of June, and even then you will cross leftover snow. The dependable window is the beginning of July to the end of September. With luck the first week or two of October still work; after that the first heavy snowfall usually shuts the pass until the next summer. In 2026 the road into Juta itself was not expected to open to cars until June because of late snow.
| Month | Conditions |
|---|---|
| Late June | Snow on the pass, streams high, flowers starting. Possible for experienced walkers, check locally first |
| July | Peak wildflowers, pass clear, warm days, afternoon storms. The best month |
| August | Warm, dry, good visibility, the busiest weeks. Excellent |
| September | Cooler, autumn colour, fewer people, shorter days. Very good, bring warm layers |
| October | Cold nights, early snow possible, unstable weather. First half only, and only if the forecast is clean |
Getting to Juta
Juta is the last village in a side valley about 20 km east of Stepantsminda (Kazbegi) and 165 km from Tbilisi. The turn-off is at Sno on the Georgian Military Highway, about 10 km south of Stepantsminda; from there it is an unpaved road up the Snostskali valley, 30 to 40 minutes by car. There is no public transport into Juta, so everyone goes via Stepantsminda.
Two things changed for 2026. The shuttle bus that a Stepantsminda agency ran to Juta for years stopped operating this season. In its place, Mountain Travel Agency in the centre of Stepantsminda runs one shared minibus a day from June, leaving at 09:30 and returning from Juta at 17:00, with a stop at the Sno stone heads on the way; it needs five passengers to run, so book a seat by WhatsApp or at the office the day before. Smaller operators also advertise Juta and Truso day trips on posters around town, usually for about 50 GEL (about $19). The second change is the road: the last 2.6 km into the village has been officially closed since it partly collapsed in June 2025, and repairs continue through 2026. Shared transfers drop you at the barricade, from where it is a 40-minute walk up the road into the village, or local taxis on the far side of the barricade take you the rest of the way for 40 GEL.
| Option | Cost and notes |
|---|---|
| Marshrutka plus taxi | 20 GEL (about $8) Didube to Stepantsminda, 3 to 3.5 hours, then a taxi from the main square to Juta from 60 GEL (about $23) one way, or 100 to 120 GEL return with 3 to 4 hours of waiting. About 4.5 hours in all |
| Shared minibus from Stepantsminda | Mountain Travel Agency, 09:30 out and 17:00 back, minimum five passengers. Built for the day hike, not for the crossing, since you will not be coming back to Juta |
| Driver from Tbilisi | GoTrip lists Tbilisi to Stepantsminda from 210 GEL (about $80) per car, 154 km, about 2 h 45 min. Juta is not a GoTrip destination, so add it as a stop when you book and confirm the driver is happy with the dirt road |
| Rental car | A high-clearance car copes with the road as far as the barricade; park there (10 GEL a day in the village lot, if you get that far) and remember the car is now on the wrong side of the mountain. Localrent's Georgia terms exclude Juta from where its cars may be driven (checked 4 September 2026), so check your rental contract before turning off at Sno |
| On foot | 17 km and about 4 hours from Stepantsminda. Hitching on this road is possible but traffic is thin |
The route, stage by stage
The driver drops you at the start of Juta by a large trail map of the area, put up by Polish volunteers who also painted the blue markers. Timings below are goingthewholehogg.com's for an average pace with a day pack; with camping gear add an hour or two. Download a GPX track before you leave Tbilisi (caucasus-trekking.com and goingthewholehogg.com both offer one free), and load the area in Maps.me or OsmAnd, which show the trail.
Juta to Fifth Season, 1.2 km, 20 to 30 minutes
Cross the bridge at the entrance to the village and take the higher, rougher track climbing steeply to the right. Zeta Camping appears after about 500 m, then the ground eases towards the Fifth Season hut, which has the best view of the massif in the valley and is the last place to buy food, water or a coffee. Most people sleeping in Juta before the crossing stay around here.
Fifth Season to the upper valley, 3 km, about 1 hour
The trail heads straight up the valley towards the rock wall. Two paths run either side of the river, one crossing below a small waterfall and one crossing earlier near the glamping pods; both rejoin near an A-frame cafe hut, a small artificial lake and an informal camping area at the head of the valley. This is where day hikers from Stepantsminda turn around. As of October 2025 the day-hike river crossings have bridges, but expect to get your feet wet somewhere on the higher sections whatever the month.
Upper valley to the last meadow, 3.1 km, 2 to 2.5 hours
Past the climbing boulders the trail bends left and climbs steadily east-north-east up a side valley, with the Chaukhi towers on your right and cows grazing to the last pasture. Cross the stream above a waterfall, then a second smaller stream over shale, and fill every bottle you have: there is no certain water from here until the lakes. A short steep pull brings you onto a flattish meadow, the highest grazing ground.
Last meadow to Chaukhi Pass, 1.4 km, 60 to 75 minutes
From the meadow the trail goes up the very steep hillside on your left, in the shale section; look for it before you commit, because it is hard to spot from below. Thirty minutes of tight switchbacks bring you to a false top that many people mistake for the pass. From there it is an easy half hour on a gradual shale slope to the real Chaukhi Pass, a wide saddle with a sheltered dip in the middle and views north to Kazbek on a clear day. From Juta it takes over four hours, so arriving around noon is normal.
Chaukhi Pass to the Blue Lake, 2.8 km, 2 to 3 hours
This is the crux and the reason to walk the route in this direction. The old way went straight down the shale from the pass, a knee-wrecking slide. The better trail now heads east over a small rise, along the ridge, then down a faint line across loose shale to a switchback path on a side ridge that you can see from the top. It is steep and relentless for two hours or more, first on shale, then grass and stones, then through chest-high wildflowers and weeds. Poles are close to compulsory, and we would not want to do it in rain, high wind or cloud. At the bottom the trail turns south, then swings sharp left to the Blue Lake, with the Green Lake a few minutes further and a stream between them for water.
The White Lake sits higher up towards the foot of the massif, about 1.5 km from the Blue Lake with 250 m of climbing, so a return visit takes 2 to 3 hours. It is the most striking of the three, a milky turquoise pool under bare rock, and worth it if you are camping. Day-crossers usually skip it.
Abudelauri Lakes to Roshka, 6 km, 1.5 to 2.5 hours
About 400 m past the Green Lake stands the Abudelauri hut, the first of a planned series of huts on Khevsureti's popular trails. It was completed in 2024 with promises of staff, cooked food and drinks, but in late 2025 it stood empty and unlocked, usable as basic shelter and nothing more. Do not plan around it. From the hut the trail follows the river down the valley, mostly obvious, sometimes overgrown or churned up by cattle, with the Roshka stones scattered across the meadows to your left. A road towards the Arkhoti valley is being pushed up this valley and the last stretch into Roshka runs along it; where it turns into a muddy building site near the village, cut north towards the river.
One day or two
Caucasus-trekking.com times the one-day crossing from Juta at 8 to 9 hours of walking; goingthewholehogg.com's stage times add up to 8 to 11 hours. Either way you need to be walking by 07:00 from the village, skip the White Lake, and keep lunch short at the pass. Fit hikers who have done similar distances at altitude arrive in Roshka tired and pleased.
Two days is what we would recommend to almost everyone. Camp at the lakes, watch the light go off the massif, visit the White Lake in the morning and walk out to Roshka before lunch. The obvious pitch is above the Green Lake between the rocks, with a few single-tent spots around the Blue Lake and larger grassy patches on the trail above it. You need a tent, a bag rated to freezing and food for dinner and breakfast, because nothing at the lakes is for sale until the hut opens properly.
Where to stay
Juta is well supplied with guesthouses for a village of its size, because most of its visitors come for the day from Stepantsminda. For the crossing the two places above the village, Zeta Camping and Fifth Season, make the most sense: you sleep 20 to 30 minutes into the walk with the massif in front of you. One thing to know about Fifth Season is that breakfast starts at 09:00, which is late for a day-crossing; ask for a packed breakfast or eat in the village. In the village itself, MetiTsa and Levan and Megi's Guesthouse are the two that keep coming up in hikers' reports for the hosts and the cooking. Roshka has three family guesthouses, all run by branches of the same family: Roshka Guesthouse at the top of the village (27 beds, the one to call), Rock Side by the road below, and Mountain House between them, at about 100 GEL (about $38) per person with dinner and breakfast. None of them is reliably bookable online, so call or ask your Juta host to phone ahead. Cash only in both villages, and the nearest ATM is in Stepantsminda.
What to bring
| Who | Kit |
|---|---|
| Everyone | Boots with ankle support, trekking poles, 2 litres of water capacity, waterproof jacket and trousers, warm mid-layer, hat, gloves, sun protection, offline map or GPX track, power bank, head torch, first aid kit, lunch and snacks, cash |
| Overnighters | Tent, sleeping bag rated to 0°C or below (nights at the lakes are cold even in August), mat, stove and fuel, dinner and breakfast, water treatment, rubbish bag to carry everything out |
| Edge of season | Microspikes if snow is possible on the pass, which it is until late June and again from late September |
Water and food
The Juta valley has streams all the way to the last meadow, and the lakes have a stream feeding the Green Lake. Between the two is a dry stretch of 3 to 4 hours over the pass, and a trickle that goingthewholehogg.com found at the top of the steep climb in July is seasonal. Fill up at the second stream above the waterfall. Livestock graze right up to the meadow, so treat what you drink; tablets or a filter weigh nothing.
Food is available at Zeta Camping and Fifth Season in Juta, at the cafe hut by the artificial lake in season, and at your Roshka guesthouse in the evening. Between the lake hut and Roshka there is nothing to buy. Shop in Stepantsminda's supermarkets before you go up, or ask your Juta guesthouse for a packed lunch.
Navigation and safety
The blue markers are decent in the valley and faint above the meadow and on the descent, where goat paths cross the route and cloud can close in without warning. Several hikers a season report losing the trail near the massif. A phone with a GPX track and a power bank is the standard answer; the paper map is a good backup. Tell your guesthouse your plan and the day you expect to reach Roshka. There is no mountain rescue post in either valley, and the nearest hospital is in Stepantsminda, on the other side of the pass from where you will be if something goes wrong on the descent.
Shepherd dogs guard flocks in both valleys. Stop, wait for the shepherd, keep your poles between you and the dogs, and do not walk through the flock. Bears live in these mountains but sightings on this well-used trail are rare.
Getting out of Roshka
This is the part most guides skip, and it is the trickiest piece of logistics on the whole trip. Roshka has no public transport, no taxi rank and little phone signal. The choices, with prices from caucasus-trekking.com's December 2025 update:
| Option | Cost and details |
|---|---|
| Driver from a Roshka guesthouse | About 150 GEL (about $57) per car to Barisakho, about 350 GEL (about $134) per car to Tbilisi. Ask at the guesthouses; arranging it the day before through your Juta host is more reliable than arriving and hoping |
| Marshrutka from Korsha or Barisakho | Leaves for Tbilisi at 09:00 on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, sometimes with a change at Zhinvali. On Wednesday and Saturday the Tbilisi to Shatili van passes before noon if you are heading north |
| Walk to the main road | 5 km and about 1.5 hours from Roshka down a footpath (cross the bridge in the village, follow the pointer, then the serpentine down to a plank bridge) to the Shatili road near the Aragvi bridge, where hitching or flagging a van is realistic |
| Pre-arranged pickup | Any Stepantsminda or Tbilisi driver will quote for a Roshka collection; agree a time and a meeting point (the bridge in the village works), and build in an hour of slack for the descent |
What it costs
Juta to Roshka costs, September 2026
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Marshrutka Tbilisi (Didube) to Stepantsminda | 20 GEL | About $8. 3 to 3.5 hours |
| Taxi Stepantsminda to Juta | from 60 GEL | About $23 one way; 100 to 120 GEL return with waiting |
| Taxi past the road barricade into the village | 40 GEL | Optional; the walk is 40 minutes |
| Driver Tbilisi to Stepantsminda (GoTrip) | from 210 GEL | About $80 per car |
| Zeta Camping double, breakfast included | 270 GEL | Per room, mid September |
| Roshka guesthouse, half board | about 100 GEL | Per person, cash |
| Driver Roshka to Barisakho | about 150 GEL | Per car |
| Driver Roshka to Tbilisi | about 350 GEL | Per car, about $134 |
| Trail permit or park fee | 0 GEL | None required |
Prices checked September 2026. Ranges reflect season and operator.
A worked example for two people crossing in one day with a night in Juta before and a driver out of Roshka: 40 GEL of marshrutka fares, 60 GEL of taxi to Juta, 270 GEL for the Zeta double, about 60 GEL of food and snacks, and 350 GEL for the car from Roshka to Tbilisi, so about 780 GEL for two (about $300), or 390 GEL a head. Camp in Juta and take the Barisakho car plus the Friday marshrutka instead and it drops to roughly 250 GEL each.
How hard it really is
Caucasus-trekking.com rates the Juta to Roshka direction moderate and the reverse hard, and the numbers back that up. The climb is long but kind: 1,100 m or so spread over about 9 km, with one steep section below the pass. The descent is the crux. Picture 500 m of loose sliding rock with a pack on, then another hour of steep grass. Some people who felt fine going up find it genuinely difficult. Add the altitude: if you slept in Tbilisi at 500 m last night, 3,340 m will feel thin. A night in Juta at 2,200 m first helps.
That said, hundreds of people cross every summer without incident. You do not need technical skills. You need to be comfortable walking 8 to 9 hours, proper boots, poles, and the sense to turn back at the meadow if the weather is coming in.
Do you need a guide
No. Almost everyone crosses independently; the route is well documented and a GPX track on your phone solves the navigation. A guide earns their fee if you have no mountain experience, want someone else to handle the Roshka transport, or want to combine the crossing with Sadzele or Arkhoti. Caucasus-trekking.com runs a Kazbegi and Khevsureti trekking tour that includes this crossing, and several Tbilisi and Stepantsminda operators offer it as a two-day trek. On GetYourGuide the Juta listings are day hikes into the valley from Tbilisi rather than the crossing: a shared group day at $35 that reviewers describe as several minibuses and 30 people, a private Juta and Chaukhi ridge day at $113, and a three-day private Kazbegi, Juta and Truso tour at $560 per person (prices read on 13 September 2026). They suit a first look at the valley; for the pass itself, walk it yourself or hire a local guide.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Starting late | The crossing needs 8 to 11 hours. A 10:00 start means the pass in the storm window and Roshka after dark. Leave the village by 07:00 |
| No plan for Roshka | A few cars a day pass through in August, almost none otherwise. Book the driver before you set off |
| Too little water | The dry stretch over the pass is 3 to 4 hours in sun at altitude. Fill 2 litres at the last stream above the waterfall |
| Walking Roshka to Juta | The shale slope below the pass is much harder to climb than to descend. Always go Juta to Roshka |
| Ignoring the altitude | Tbilisi to the pass in one go is a headache waiting to happen. Sleep in Juta at 2,200 m the night before |
| Relying on the hut | The Abudelauri hut was unstaffed and unlocked in late 2025. Carry a tent if you plan to sleep at the lakes |
| Trusting the paint | Markers fade above the meadow and on the descent. Download a GPX track before leaving Tbilisi; there is no signal to do it later |
Frequently asked questions
Is the Chaukhi Pass trek safe to do alone?
Can I do Juta to Roshka as a day trip from Tbilisi?
Is there a fee or permit for the trek?
How does it compare to Mestia to Ushguli?
Can I hike from Juta to the lakes and back without crossing to Roshka?
What about shepherd dogs and bears?
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