BUILDING THE TRANSCAUCASIAN TRAIL
Join us from November 20 - December 31 as we aim to raise $20,000 towards building and maintaining the TCT in 2025.
Since 2016, we've been working hard to create a world-class, long-distance hiking trail network across the magnificent South Caucasus mountains through Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. When completed, the Transcaucasian Trail (TCT) will consist of two interlinking trails stretching 3,000 kilometers across Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, connecting two major mountain ranges and roughly two dozen national parks and protected areas across the region.
In eight short years, the trail and TCT community have grown exponentially. With tremendous support from partners, supporters, and volunteers, we've:
- Mapped and improved 1750 kilometers of trail, including the first full national section of the TCT in Armenia.
- Put new destinations on the map, helping revitalize rural villages along the way.
- Trained over 40 Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani trail crew leaders through our Caucasus Conservation Corps program, who in turn have led hundreds of local and international volunteers in field projects to build and improve the trail.
- Welcomed more than 30,000 hikers per year to sections of the TCT, increasing opportunities for small businesses in rural villages.
- Facilitated cultural exchanges across the region, building bridges despite closed borders and ongoing conflicts.
- Provided environmental education to help locals protect the places they love
- Improved access to the region’s natural & cultural heritage for locals and visitors alike.
- Opened the 1500km-long North-South route through Armenia and Georgia.
What will we use donations for? We’re glad you asked!
Next year, we plan to build and maintain a lot more of the trail and expand our educational programs, particularly our flagship Caucasus Conservation Corps program. The CCC is a core part of what we do as a regional trail association, and we want to make sure we can keep it going! With your help, this $20,000 will go towards:
Deepen the impact of the CCC program to better support the region’s next generation of conservation leaders. Conservation is a developing field in the Caucasus, and the CCC is one of the few programs in the region that offers young people the opportunity to gain relevant skills and experience. We’re continually building partnerships and adapting our curriculum to make sure the program is sustainable and can continue to provide training and education in the field.
Fund CCC projects to build, improve, and blaze the TCT. Our ultimate goal is to build a world-class, long-distance hiking trail-- and the CCC is our core work force. After all, without a trail, our other projects can’t happen. But building such a massive trail network is expensive! Between scouting for new trail possibilities, improving existing sections to maintain safety and accessibility, and installing signs and blazes, it all adds up really quickly!
Map and expand new sections of the trail. We've got 1,750 km of trail built and mapped already, and we were super busy this summer scouting for additional trail sections in Georgia and Azerbaijan. Next year, we plan on finalizing those sections and putting them on the map! This means that more hikers will be able to enjoy the natural and cultural beauty of the Caucasus, and the trail will reach even more villages, bringing in more money to the local economy and providing more business opportunities for people who live near and along the TCT.
DISCOVER THE CAUCASUS CONSERVATION CORPS
One of the TCT's flagship programs is the Caucasus Conservation Corps (CCC), whose mission is to provide environmental, trail-building, and leadership training to young people from the Caucasus. The program has been evolving and growing since its inception in 2020, and this year we implemented a 100-day training program for 12 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia who are interested in trail-building and conservation.
The physical Transcaucasian Trail provided the training environment for the CCC participants, and participants spent the summer camping along the trail as they learned and practiced their skills while building and maintaining the TCT in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Four local trainers and CCC graduates taught participants the intricacies of trail-building - including constructing drainage systems, building bridges, and the art of creating switchbacks and durable trails. Getting those backslopes just right is harder than it looks!
Participants also learned to work together with people from other countries who speak different languages, and discovered that they had more similarities than differences with each other. They worked with international volunteers in Zeskho, Georgia, while practicing their leadership and English language skills. Everyone successfully finished the training program with new skills, new friends, and a renewed confidence in their abilities.
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN
To celebrate how far the trail has come so far and the programs we've been able to implement (and hope to continue to run in the future!), we'll introduce you to a different aspect of the CCC each week between November 20 and December 31. Now is your chance to meet the 2024 CCC participants, hear their stories, learn how they hope to use their CCC experience to benefit their communities in the future, and donate so we can continue building the TCT and run life-changing programs like the CCC.
Get ready to learn about:
- why the CCC is important
- why we're teaching trail building
- how we're applying conservation lessons in the Caucasus
- cultural exchanges between young people from the region
- how the CCC has contributed to participants' personal growth
- sustainable tourism in the Caucasus and how CCC participants hope to make a difference in their own communities
We invite you to learn more about the incredible young people involved in the CCC — follow along on our newsletter, blog, and Instagram/Facebook, and donate to the TCT!
A hiker traversing an unmarked section in the Gegham Mountains, Armenia. Photo by Meagan Neal.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
- Make a donation of $10 or more to help us build and maintain the TCT and continue providing educational programs for local young people. Any amount helps!
- Become a Trailblazer! Click on the "I want to fundraise for this" button and commit to asking your friends and family to donate during campaign.
- Raise money as a team or group with your friends, family, or co-workers. Feel free to be creative — you can draw your own map, share your own hike if you spent time on the trail!
- Amplify our work and invite more people to learn about the TCT by sharing our CCC stories on social media. Tag us and use the hashtag #buildtheTCT!
Thank you for your support — and we’ll see you in the mountains!
Together in sweat & gratitude,
The TCT Team
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to info@transcaucasiantrail.org.
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