Why Mount Aragats is famous
Aragats is the roof of modern Armenia. Its North summit, 4,090 m by Armenian surveys (the Smithsonian volcano catalogue gives 4,095 m), is the highest point of the country and of the Lesser Caucasus, and with a topographic prominence of 2,143 m the mountain stands out more from its surroundings than many higher Caucasus peaks. The massif is isolated from Armenia's other ranges: the Kasagh River bounds it on the east, the Akhurian on the west, the Ararat Plain on the south and the Shirak Plain on the north. Its circumference is about 200 km, and the slopes take up some 6,000 km², roughly one fifth of Armenia.
Armenians regard Aragats, together with Mount Ararat across the Turkish border, as a sacred mountain. It appears on the coat of arms of Gyumri, the country's second city, and on the 10,000-dram banknote behind the poet Avetik Isahakyan, and the province around it is called Aragatsotn, "the foot of Aragats". From the summits the view stretches over the Ararat Plain to the twin snow cones of Ararat.
Four summits around a crater
The mountain is a stratovolcano that grew in several phases over the last two and a half million years; its long lava flows reach far down onto the plains. Today it is considered extinct. Four rocky peaks, named after the cardinal directions, form a jagged rim around the central depression, arranged in an arc that is open to the south-east:
- North summit: 4,090 m, the highest and hardest to reach;
- West summit: 3,995 m (some Russian sources give 4,007 m);
- East summit: 3,908 m (or 3,916 m);
- South summit: 3,888 m (or 3,879 m), the lowest and by far the most visited.
The "crater" is roughly 2.5–3 km across and 350–400 m deep; some geologists consider it a glacial cirque or an explosion caldera rather than a true volcanic crater. Through the gap in the south-east rim flows the Gegharot River, which starts from the snow and ice inside. In 1896 the glaciers of Aragats covered about 5.5 km², but they have shrunk fast since then; firn and snowfields still fill parts of the crater in summer, and in warm years shallow meltwater ponds appear on its floor.
Getting there: the road to Lake Kari
Almost every ascent starts at Lake Kari (Kari Lich, "stone lake"), a glacial lake at about 3,190 m below the South summit, with a perimeter of 1,150 m and a depth of up to 8 m. It is frozen eight to nine months of the year. A paved road reaches it from the south: from Ashtarak via Agarak to the village of Byurakan, past the turn-off to Amberd fortress, then about 14 km of switchbacks to the end of the road at the lake. A second road from the Armenian Alphabet Monument joins from the east. Snow closes the road in winter, sometimes until late May.
There is no public transport to the lake. Shared minibuses run from Yerevan to Ashtarak and Byurakan (bus 519 left Yerevan's Kilikia bus station several times a day in 2022), and the last 15–20 km are done by taxi, by prearranged driver or by hitchhiking. At the lake there is a summer snack stand with a grill, a small hotel where meals are cooked, and a grassy rise on the east shore where climbers pitch tents; campers have been asked for a small fee.
The South summit route
The standard hike to the South summit is about 5 km with some 700 m of ascent. From the lake the path zigzags north-west up the slope until it meets a dirt track, which switchbacks steadily to the top; the final 30 m climb past an abandoned service building and through a rocky cleft to the summit. A fit walker needs two to three hours up and about one hour down. The only real difficulty is the altitude: the walk starts above 3,000 m, and guidebooks advise spending a night at the lake first.
On top stand a metal cross and small shrines, some with offerings left by pilgrims. Start early: clouds usually rise out of the crater during the morning and storms often follow in the afternoon, so climbers who leave at about 5 a.m. have the best chance of seeing Ararat.
The North summit and crossing the crater
The highest summit is a long day and a step up in seriousness. The usual line goes from Lake Kari towards the South summit, skirts it to the saddle between the South and West summits (about 3,600 m), descends into the crater and crosses its floor of snowfields and coloured scree, then climbs a loose slope to the saddle between the East and North summits (about 3,700 m). From there a path on the rim leads to the top. Plan four to five hours from Lake Kari to the summit, or about three hours from the crater floor, and as long again to return.
- Snow can cover much of the route until the end of July; later in summer much of it melts, but old snow and ice remain in shaded parts of the crater.
- Below the top there is a false summit; the true high point is a crumbling rock outcrop marked with a metal cross and tripod. Some hikers stop a few metres lower rather than scramble on the loose rock.
- Local guidebooks rate it as an easy mountaineering route of Soviet grade 1B, with some scrambling; the alpine-hiking scale puts it at T5. Guidebooks recommend hiring a guide for any summit other than the South.
With good weather a strong party can climb the South and North summits in one day, but many prefer to give each its own day, since the visibility is usually best early in the morning. The West summit is reputed to be the most difficult of the four, a ridge of red, broken rock with a steep descent; the ridge from the West to the North summit is usually considered impassable. Climbing all four summits normally means camping a night inside the crater. A longer approach from the east starts near the village of Aragats on the Aparan plateau and follows the Gegharot River past the Jrvesh waterfall (about 2,500 m) into the crater.
Permits and costs
No permit is needed to hike on Aragats, and there is no entrance fee for the mountain itself. Yerevan agencies offer guided day trips and multi-day climbs, and drivers can be hired for the road to the lake. Expect to pay only for transport, meals and a small camping fee at Lake Kari.
When to go and weather
The climbing season runs from about mid-July to mid-September, when most of the snow has melted; the South summit can be climbed earlier in summer. Even then the summit zone has frosts, and in winter snow lies on the upper mountain for about 250 days a year. The weather station near Lake Kari (3,227 m) records average July and August highs of about 13 °C and lows of about 5 °C, while temperatures have dropped to −6 °C even in July. August and September are the driest months.
Locals call the crater "Armenia's weather maker": clouds build in the cauldron in the morning, and rain or even snow showers are common in the afternoon, even in midsummer. Carry warm, windproof clothing whatever the forecast in Yerevan says.
Water
Water is easier to find near Lake Kari than on the dry lower slopes. Springs rise on the hillsides around the lake, many small streams run off the snow, and there are springs and meltwater in the crater, at least until late summer. The snack stand and hotel at the lake sell drinks. On the South summit path itself there is usually no reliable water, so fill up at the lake and carry at least two litres per person; for the North summit carry more. Treat water from streams and the crater, because sheep and cattle graze high on the mountain in summer.
Mobile coverage and emergencies
Armenia has three mobile operators: Team (formerly Beeline), VivaCell-MTS and Ucom. VivaCell-MTS is generally regarded as having the best coverage outside Yerevan, and local SIM cards are cheap. Reception near isolated high peaks is unreliable, and the crater is surrounded by high walls, so do not count on a signal there. Download offline maps before leaving, tell someone your plan, and consider a satellite messenger for the North summit.
The emergency number in Armenia is 911; 112 is also routed to the emergency services. Mountain rescues are carried out by the Rescue Service, since 2023 part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sometimes with helicopters.
Dangers and safety
- Thunderstorms and lightning. Storms build over the crater on many summer afternoons; the cosmic ray station by Lake Kari even studies the bursts of gamma rays and particles that thunderclouds produce above the mountain. Be off the summits by early afternoon.
- Fog and cloud. Cloud often fills the crater by late morning, and the routes between the summits are only partly marked. Navigation across the crater floor in fog is the classic mistake.
- Snow and ice in the crater. Early in summer snowfields and remnants of glacial ice cover the crossing; old guidebooks advise roping up on glacier ice. Scree and crumbling rock make the final slopes of the North and West summits awkward.
- Winter. On 11 March 2025 an avalanche on the North summit caught a group of nine Spanish climbers; eight were flown out by helicopter with injuries and one died.
- Animals. Brown bears live on the mountain: in September 2019 a Polish hiker died at about 3,500 m after a surprise encounter with a bear made both of them fall from rocks. Shepherds' dogs guard flocks on the upper pastures; keep your distance.
- Altitude. Altitude sickness is uncommon on Aragats but possible; sleep a night at Lake Kari before the North summit, and descend if headache and nausea get worse.
Around the mountain
- Amberd: a fortress at about 2,300 m on a spur between the Arkashen and Amberd gorges, built in the 7th century by the Kamsarakan princes, rebuilt by Prince Vahram Pahlavuni, who also raised the church beside it in 1026, and destroyed by the Mongols in 1236. In 2024 Europa Nostra listed it among the seven most endangered heritage sites in Europe. Byurakan is 6.4 km away.
- Byurakan Observatory (about 1,405 m): founded in 1946 by Viktor Ambartsumian and one of the main astronomy centres of the Soviet Union. Its surveys found the "Markarian galaxies", and the survey plates are listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World register. Evening tours with a look through a telescope have been offered to visitors.
- Aragats Cosmic Ray Station: founded in 1943 by the brothers Abram Alikhanov and Artem Alikhanian next to Lake Kari at about 3,200 m. It has worked almost without a break ever since, today as a space-weather and thunderstorm research centre.
- Armenian Alphabet Monument near Artashavan: 39 giant stone letters set up in 2005 for the 1,600th anniversary of the alphabet of Mesrop Mashtots. On a nearby hill stands a 33 m cross made of 1,711 smaller iron crosses, one for each year since Armenia adopted Christianity in 301, and a cross is added every year.
- On the road to Amberd there is a "gravity hill", where an optical illusion makes a downhill stretch look uphill.
History and name
Armenian tradition derives the name from Ara and gah, "the throne of Ara", after the legendary king Ara the Handsome, though scholars treat this as folk etymology. The medieval historian Movses Khorenatsi linked the name to Aramaneak, son of the forefather Hayk, who called his lands "the foot of Aragats". Until the mid-20th century European and Russian maps mostly used the Turkic name Alagöz (Alagez, Alagyaz), usually translated as "variegated eye".
Rock carvings of animals and human figures on the slopes go back thousands of years, and old stone "vishap" steles stand at springs. In 1935 about a thousand people climbed the summit from five directions to mark the 15th anniversary of Soviet Armenia. On 28 May 2005, the anniversary of the First Republic, a human chain of dancers formed a 163 km ring around the whole massif; estimates of the number of participants range from about 170,000 to 250,000.
Interesting facts
- A legend says Aragats and Ararat were loving sisters who quarrelled; the mountain Maruta cursed them never to meet again, which is why they stand apart.
- Another legend says Gregory the Illuminator prayed on the summit at night by the light of a lamp hanging from heaven without a rope, and that only the worthy can still see it.
- Osip Mandelstam wrote that from Yerevan Alagez was always before his eyes, and that one could ride up it on horseback despite its 14,000 feet.
- Komitas arranged a folk song called "Alagyaz", and Martiros Saryan painted the mountain in 1925.
FAQ
How high is Mount Aragats? The North summit is 4,090 m (13,420 ft), the highest point of Armenia; the West, East and South summits are about 3,995 m, 3,908 m and 3,888 m.
How long does it take to climb Aragats? The South summit takes two to three hours up from Lake Kari and about an hour down. The North summit takes four to five hours each way, a full day.
How difficult is it? The South summit is a steep walk without technical difficulty; the challenge is the altitude. The North summit involves a crater crossing on snow and scree and a scramble on loose rock (Soviet grade 1B, about T5); a guide is recommended.
Do I need a permit or a guide? No permit is required. A guide is optional for the South summit and recommended for the other three.
Is there water on the route? There are springs and streams around Lake Kari and meltwater in the crater, and drinks are sold at the lake, but not on the path itself. Carry at least two litres and treat stream water.
Is there mobile coverage on Aragats? Patchy: you may get a signal on open slopes, but not reliably on the summits or in the crater. The emergency number is 911.
When is the best time to climb Aragats? From mid-July to mid-September, starting at dawn to beat the clouds and afternoon storms.
How do I get to Lake Kari? By car or taxi from Yerevan via Ashtarak and Byurakan, about 40 km to the foot of the mountain plus the mountain road; minibuses go only as far as Ashtarak or Byurakan.