Karavaz and Herher Waterfalls
Vayots Dzor is a region where you can find many colors. The region itself is its own painter. Here the mountains have red shades, as if the sunset had settled on the peaks forever. On Sunday we were in this beautiful region, more precisely around the village of Herher. When you turn off the main highway onto the road to Herher, you find yourself in a narrow gorge that gradually widens, opening up beautiful views of the mountains. Then, in the embrace of those mountains, the Herher Reservoir appears in all its beauty, changing color depending on the weather. On the day of the hike, it greeted us with a delicate green.
Where was the group of children heading, and what remarkable places are there here that made us travel a long way, covering a hundred kilometers? Herher village has many historical and cultural sites as well as natural monuments. But this time we intended to discover the Karavaz and Herher waterfalls. Earlier we had also climbed Mount Vayotssar.
The name of Herher village has nothing to do with “her” meaning “father”, nor with the dialect word “he’r” meaning “why”. According to one version, the volcanic Mount Vayotssar once erupted, leaving lava flows behind, and the settlements of the area were named Yereran, meaning “burnt”. The “h” was added for ease of pronunciation. Another version is that the village was known as a center of carpet weaving, and the name of the settlement comes from the word “her”, meaning “hair”, since carpets were woven from hair.
The group of young hikers set off ready, walking under the watchful gaze of Mount Vayotssar, crossing flowery fields that gradually brought us closer to the waterfalls. First we walked toward the Karavaz Waterfall, which seemed to have carved stone steps by breaking through the giant rocks. On the way to the waterfall we also overcame a small obstacle: a large stone that required climbing skills to get past. Of course, the children overcame the obstacle easily, as always. After enjoying the beauty of the waterfall and resting, we continued on to the Herher Waterfall. While to reach the Karavaz Waterfall you had to climb up, at Herher you had to go down to see the waterfall. The Herher Waterfall falls into a deep pool, which made the impression even stronger. Both waterfalls are included in the list of state natural monuments of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia.
Discovering the colorful mountains and waterfalls of Vayots Dzor, the children learned to overcome difficulties with team spirit and confidence. The impressions they gained along the way will stay in their memory for a long time as a day full of adventure and learning.
. Distance covered: 6.5 km
. Elevation gain: 200 m
Would you like to join us?
We regularly organize hikes and camps for children. See what is coming up and join us.
Upcoming hikes and camps →