• Trekking in Lar National Park and protected area
• One night sleep in high altitude village of Shemshak (2700m )
• Two days hiking on the foot of massive Damavand Mountain
• Visiting the semi-nomads and shepherd on the trek
• Crossing the vast valley of Lar
• Passing two canyons and rivers on the trek
• Untouched landscapes, rivers, sounds and colors of nature in a non-touristic area
• Spectacular view of massive Mount Damavand
• Sleeping in the camp in Lar National Park

Lar National Park is a protected area on the foot of massive Mt Damavand (5610 m) with many impressive summits of Central Alborz mountain range over 4000m. Officially it is in two provinces of Tehran and Mazandaran. Lar is one of the preserved areas of Iran with watery and mountainous ecosystem only 70 km far from north east of the capital.

The National Park of Lar is as big as 30,000 hectares and doesn’t have any residential area in or around it. During the summer when the national park opens for local tribes, you see semi nomadic shepherds from the desert areas further south take their herds to graze in the summer months.  You may also see some Persian tribes making KOOCH (move to high altitude and cooler places in the hot season) in the park territory.

Because of different ecosystems and ecology, different species live in this park such as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and aquatics (brown bear, viper, partridge, gamma and red-spotted trout). This area is also used for beekeeping considering the various plants it has.

The park opens from May to Mid- August and then is closed for the entire year. The best time to visit is beginning of May to the end of June when the area’s grassland is covered with wild flowers. All domestic visitors need a permit to visit the park. Foreign visitors also need entrance permit and some extra paperwork. In order to obtain a written permit for foreigners from the Environment Department in Tehran, we will need some time as it is bureaucratic and time consuming.

This route is one of the most beautiful hiking routes in central Alborz Mountains which is in northwest of Tehran.
The tour will start from Tehran by driving to Shemshak village which is 65 km through a mountain road takes one and half hour. The altitude of the village is around 2700 m from the sea level good enough for your acclimatization. Then you will hike through a canyon towards Lar National Park. You will have around 50 km hiking during this journey and you will cross many times the rivers and mountains through the park. You will have a good view of Mt. Damavand from the west side and also you will stay one night inside of the part in tent and we will supply all of the camping stuff and gears and sleeping arrangement as well. The valley of Lear is a vast area and on early in the season in May will be covered by different type of flowers. You will finish the hike in the park a and you will back from Polour village by one and half hour driving towards Tehran.
For getting the permit to a National Park for foreigner, it takes time and extra paperwork and advance booking is mandatory.
You need to be well prepared with extra clothes and trekking sandal and so on.

Lar National Park Trekking

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