Geghama Volcanic Ridge Offroad

The most demanding day trip in our programme: we leave Yerevan early and drive out past Geghard Monastery, to where the asphalt ends. From there a rough highland track climbs over grass steppe, scree and cooled lava fields past 3,000 metres — with stream fords that swell depending on the snowmelt. We cover the final stretch to the crater rim of Mount Azhdahak, at 3,597 metres the highest peak of the Geghama range, on foot: 30 to 60 minutes up a loose cinder slope. At the top lies a still, cold lake inside the extinct crater, watched over by Bronze Age dragon stones, while more than 12,000 petroglyphs are pecked into the surrounding rock. The mountain carries the name of a dragon from ancient Armenian legend — the view reaches to Lake Sevan and, on a clear day, to Mount Ararat. A long, demanding day for fit adventurers with sturdy boots; we’re back in Yerevan by evening.