Tickets
Hotels
Tours
Insurance
Trains
RussiaGeneral information about Zubutli, history, recreation, infrastructure
The village of Staroe Zubutli or Zubutl is a small mountain village in Dagestan, known among tourists and travelers as a place from where you can visit the main natural attraction of the Republic - Sulak Canyon, and take a ride on a boat on the Sulak River (Zubutli on the map of Dagestan). It is from the pier of this village that pleasure boats depart along the canyon, and on the way here you can see stunning views of the Sulak Canyon from several viewing points. There is also an extreme zipline through the canyon, you can walk around the village on foot with magnificent views of the gorge, as well as just relax from civilization.
Zubutli is a very old village, and according to some estimates its history begins in the VII-VIII centuries. In Soviet times, a collective farm was organized here, in which quince was grown. In May 1970, the village was completely destroyed by an earthquake, about 30 residents died, and the rest were relocated to the current village of Novo-Zubutli. Currently, residents are trying to restore the old village, construction is underway. About 100 houses have been built, a local school is operating.
The settlement is small, consists of only one street and several alleys, which are bad dirt roads. The streets themselves are winding and narrow, located on the slopes, there is very little room for traveling. There are no shops in the village, you will have to stock up on food and cook on your own. There is a cafe at the boat dock, but it is not very stable, i.e. it may be closed when you arrive. Cellular communication works intermittently, the signal is extremely weak and catches only in high open places.
Hotels and accommodation in Zubutli, where to stay
Unfortunately, it is impossible or very difficult to find and book accommodation in Zubutli online now, there are very few options. There are a couple of small private guest houses in the village, for example, Lastochka and U Canyon, but the price tag on them is far from "humane", given that they are just rooms in the homes of local residents with a minimum of amenities and services. You can try to book them through the following, but it is best to look for options through a card on these services, as they may relate to to the village of Dubki or to other localities, i.e. when searching for the name "Zubutli" you may not get anything.
If you want to stay cheaper, you can try your luck to find accommodation on the spot. Accommodation options in private houses can be offered to you already at the entrance to the hydroelectric power station in Novo-Zubutli by drivers of tourist jeeps and UAZ trucks, or come to the village and ask on the spot.
It is not easy to find places for a tent in Zubutli, because there are steep slopes everywhere, and the available places are occupied by farm territories. One of the more or less suitable places to set up a tent is a paid parking lot before going down to the pier.
How to get to Zubutli
Getting to Zubutli is not easy: there is no bus connection, the drogs here are very difficult and difficult for simple cars. We will tell you about both ways, but we recommend visiting the village and Sulak Canyon with jeep tours whenever possible.
-
In Zubutli and Sulak Canyon with excursions
There are two ways to get here with excursions: buy a ready-made tour departing from Makhachkala, Derbent and other places, or get here on asphalt on your own transport, and transfer to sightseeing jeeps directly to travel to the village along a dirt road.
You can buy ready-made excursions on these verified sites with reviews:
But be careful, as some excursions to the Sulak Canyon do not go to Zubutli, but replace it with a simpler and not so interesting "fake walk" along the "fake canyon". In such excursions, instead of a boat trip from Zubutli, you will be taken on an easier way to take a boat ride along the Chirkessian reservoir along far from the most exciting part of the gorge, and they say that this is exactly what the canyon itself is. Therefore, check the excursion program in the description.
If you travel by your own transport, you can save money by doing part of the journey yourself. To do this, you need to get to the Miatlinskaya HPP, where a good asphalt road leads, you can easily get to it using the navigator. At the entrance to the hydroelectric power station, you will be met by local guides on off-road vehicles and offered to ride to the village from 10,000 rubles for the whole car, including boating (price 2023). They do it not intrusively and can even be said delicately, which is very nice. However, if you decide to use their services, then accurately agree on the final price and make sure that it is indicated for a trip in both directions with expectation, and not in one direction, and that we are talking about the cost for the whole car, and not for each person. You can park your car in the parking lot next to the checkpoint at the entrance to the hydroelectric power station, it is safe there and you can leave it even overnight.
-
To Zubutli by yourself in your own car
The roads here are unpaved and very difficult, one might even say dangerous. It is advisable to drive a four-wheel drive car, or at least a car with a high landing. With a great desire and experience of traveling on mountain roads, you can also drive a puzoterka, but what condition your car will be in after that is a big question. In bad weather during or after rain, not to mention snow, we strongly advise you not to go on your own. The road here is one of the most difficult in the whole of Dagestan, do not neglect this warning.
So, there are two roads leading to Zubutli: one through the Miatlinskaya HPP in the village of Novo-Zubutli, the other leads through Khubar. The route through Khubar is very difficult and practically impassable for ordinary cars, even with all-wheel drive, they need real jeeps and experience traveling on extremely difficult mountain roads, so it's not even worth considering this option. You need to go only through the Miatlinskaya HPP on a short road along the gorge. Here's how to do it: There is a good asphalt road leading to the Miatlinskaya HPP, you can easily reach it using the navigator. To pass through the hydroelectric power station, you need to go through security control, because this is an object of special importance. To do this, feel free to drive further down the road to the checkpoint building for travel to the HPP (Checkpoint on the map). In 2022, there was a sign prohibiting traffic, but you need to go directly under the sign across the bridge, there are no options here. You can drive up to the checkpoint from the other side through another bridge a little downstream of the Sulak River, but there is an almost impassable road.
At the checkpoint, you need to present the documents of all passengers, go through security control, after which they will open the gate for you and you can go on. There is only one road from the HPP – a dirt road with a length of 13 kilometers. At the very beginning, after the passage of the HPP tunnel, it will be necessary to overcome a very steep, almost extreme climb. If your car overcomes it, then you will get further to the village without much difficulty. It will take about an hour to get to the village.
Video of the road to the village of Zubutli -
In Zubutli on foot along the Sulak trail of Oak trees
The Sulak trail leads from the village of Dubki along the right slope of the canyon, which can be easily overcome on foot. Going down it, you will find yourself on the opposite side of the river from the village of Staroe Zubutli. On the other side there will also be a pier from which pleasure boats depart along the canyon. You can move to the village and to the pier via a pedestrian bridge, and also theoretically pleasure boats can pick you up on this shore, if you agree on it in advance. You can go back to Dubki on foot the same way, leave the village of Staroe Zubutli by hitchhiking or get hooked on sightseeing jeeps to the nearest "civilization" behind the Miatlinskaya HPP, if there are empty seats in them. We tell you more about the Sulak trail here.
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Dagestan with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: