Göygöl National Park

Göygöl National Park, Azerbaijan

A low-angle view of Lake Göygöl at golden hour, framed by a foreground fir tree, with the sun creating a bright path on the water and Mount Kapaz in the distance.

A blue mountain lake in the Lesser Caucasus, reached on easy forest trails, where Azerbaijani families and hikers share the shore from Ganja.

The place

Göygöl National Park lies on the northeastern flank of the Lesser Caucasus in western Azerbaijan, with its reference point at about 1,969 metres above sea level. The name is easy to unpick: göl means lake and göy means blue, so this is the blue-lake park. It protects roughly 12,755 hectares of forest, river gorge and subalpine slope, reached by a 20 km run up the road from Göygöl town, with the city of Ganja further out on the plain. The landscape is steep and wooded, with trees thinning to open grass and rock as the ground climbs, and the grey bulk of Mount Kapaz standing over everything. Several lakes are scattered through the valleys. Göygöl is the one that gives the park its name, but Maralgöl, a walk beyond it, is clearer and more turquoise, and it is the lake in most photographs captioned Göygöl. Wildlife includes Caucasian deer, bears, lynx, wild cat and sable, with Caspian snowcock and black vulture among the birds, though a day walker will mostly meet squirrels and hear birdsong. Crowds are real. This is a popular weekend outing from Ganja, and summer afternoons on the lake shore are busy. Accommodation near the water opens for only two or three months in summer, so the park feels very different in July and in late autumn, when services thin out. Park status dates from 2008, when it replaced an earlier state reserve.

Its story

Göygöl National Park owes its best-known feature to a falling mountain. In the usual account, an earthquake on 30 September 1139 broke away part of Mount Kapaz and the rubble blocked the gorge of the Akhsu river, so water gathered behind the barrier and a lake appeared. Some researchers argue for an older origin and point to small ice-cut hollows near the upper Shamkirchay as evidence of glaciers; the two ideas are not strictly exclusive, since a basin shaped by ice could later have been closed off by rockfall. Formal protection came much later. A state reserve was created here in 1925 to look after the subalpine forests and lakes on the northern slope of the Lesser Caucasus. During the Soviet period the reserve lost its status for a time, and it was restored afterwards. In 2008 the reserve became a national park, and its area grew from 6,739 hectares to 12,755, which is where it stands today. The frontier region nearby has a recent history of its own: the park was closed to the public for a period because of its closeness to Nagorno-Karabakh, and it has since reopened to visitors. Local advice in Ganja on current conditions is still sensible before setting out. The result is a place with two stories laid on each other, a geological one measured in earthquakes and ice, and a modern one of reserves, boundaries and reopening, and walkers on the lake path are moving through both.

What to see

Culture

Göygöl National Park is a place Azerbaijanis visit for the day more than a destination that foreign travellers plan around, and its culture is largely that of the weekend outing. Families and friends from Ganja and the surrounding towns drive up for fresh air, walk the lake shore and picnic with flasks of tea. Black tea in small waisted glasses, often with jam or sweets alongside, is the default of Azerbaijani hospitality, and a hot glass is often offered more readily than directions. Beyond the lake, mountain life is pastoral. In summer shepherds bring flocks to the high grass and camp with large guard dogs, so a hiker passing through is walking across somebody's working land. The park is also a point of local pride. It grew from a protected reserve of 1925, and the lake appears on postcards, school trips and family photographs across the region. Azerbaijani is the everyday language, Russian is still widely understood, and some English can be found in the hotel area; a few words of greeting go a long way, and an offer of tea or fruit is a courtesy better accepted than refused. Visitors should keep to marked paths, carry all rubbish out, and give shepherds' camps and their dogs a wide berth, asking the shepherd before crossing a flock.

What to wear

Göygöl National Park sits in a region where traditional dress survives mostly at weddings, folk festivals and on stage. Men's formal costume centres on the chokha, a fitted wool coat with a row of cartridge pockets across the chest, worn over a long under-coat and topped with a tall papakh hat of sheepskin or wool. Women's dress uses silk, velvet and brocade, with embroidered bodices, long skirts and a light silk headscarf, often finished with metallic thread. Wool and felt remain everyday materials for shepherds in the high pastures, who wear heavy cloaks and felt hats against the wind. What people wear now is ordinary: jeans, trainers, fleeces and padded jackets on the lake paths, and smarter, more covered clothes in Ganja's streets and on market days. Visitors need to think about weather and terrain first. Mountain weather turns quickly even in summer, so layers, a waterproof shell and a sun hat all earn their place. Sturdy walking shoes with grip suit the trails, which cross stony ground and wet slopes, and flat canvas trainers are a poor choice for the long routes. Shorts are fine on the path, but in towns and near any mosque shoulders and knees should be covered, and women may want a light scarf to hand.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Summer, when the lodging by the lake is open (it runs for only two or three months) and buses run up to the lake. Autumn can be colourful in the forest, but services thin out and the upper trails turn cold.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. Ganja is the nearest city, reached by air, rail or road from the rest of Azerbaijan. From there take a local bus or taxi to Göygöl town, then a shared taxi for the 20 km up to the park; in summer there are regular buses up to the lake and the hotel area.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources