The Okatse canyon: the walkway hung from the cliff, an hour from Kutaisi

The Okatse is a small river that has cut a crack in the limestone of Imereti 16 km long, 100 metres deep and at times 15 metres wide, with walls covered in ivy, ferns and beeches that meet overhead. For centuries nobody saw it except from the rim. In 2014 the state hung a 780-metre steel walkway from the wall, between 50 and 100 metres above the bottom, with a grating floor and a railing, ending in a platform cantilevered over the void, and since then it has been the most famous excursion around Kutaisi.

What the visit is like

You enter at the visitor centre in Gordi, a village 45 km from Kutaisi, an hour by car. From there it is a two-kilometre walk, half an hour on foot, through a beech forest that was once the park of the Dadiani estate, the princes of Mingrelia, with a stone path, benches and a stream; those who do not want to walk ride up in the 4x4s waiting at the entrance, for a few lari. Then the walkway begins: it drops down the wall in zigzags, follows the canyon hung from the rock, with the river below and the trees opposite, and ends at the platform, which juts a few metres out over nothing. It is grating, you see the bottom through it, and some people find it hard, but it is wide and firm. There and back, including the forest, two and a half hours.

Kinchkha and the rest

Seven km from the visitor centre, up the same road, is the Kinchkha waterfall, a 70-metre drop in two leaps down a tufa wall, with a walkway and stairs climbing halfway up and pools for bathing in summer; it takes an hour and is quieter than the canyon. In the same valley, 15 km towards Kutaisi, is Prometheus cave, and on the edge of the city, Sataplia.

When and what to take

April to October; in winter it closes or opens depending on ice, and in rain the grating is slippery. May and June have the strongest green and the highest river; in summer there are queues at weekends and it is best to go first thing. Shoes with grip, water and little in your hands. Closed on Mondays. The ticket is paid at the visitor centre and covers the walkway; the 4x4 and Kinchkha are paid separately.

How to fit it in

There is no public transport to Gordi; you go by car, taxi from Kutaisi or organised excursion. The usual plan is the Imereti day: Sataplia or Prometheus in the morning, Okatse and Kinchkha in the afternoon, or the other way round. From Kutaisi it also links with Martvili, the other canyon, 50 km to the west, though that is too many walkways for one day.

Frequently asked questions