Cave · Banoja, Tsqaltubo Municipality, Imereti

Sataplia Cave

Name: Sataplia Cave
Address: Banoja, Imereti, Georgia

სათაფლიის მღვიმე · სათაფლია

A karst cave and a set of fossil dinosaur footprints in a wooded reserve on the edge of Kutaisi, with a glass viewing platform out over the Imereti hills.

Why go

Sataplia packs three unrelated things into an hour: a small karst cave cut by the Oghaskura river, a slab of Cretaceous limestone carrying fossilised dinosaur tracks, and a glass-floored platform cantilevered off the hillside. That combination is why it works as a family stop and why it is not really a caving trip — the cave is a fraction of the size of Prometheus, and the footprints are the reason to come. The tracks were found in the 1930s by Petre Chabukiani, a Kutaisi teacher and naturalist who was looking for evidence of early humans and found dinosaurs instead. The reserve was established around his discovery in 1935. Sources disagree on how many prints survive — published counts run from under a hundred to about two hundred — so the honest description is a limestone surface with clearly visible tracks under cover, rather than a specific number. It is the closest of Kutaisi's set-piece sites, about five kilometres out in a straight line, which makes it the one that fits into a half-day when Prometheus and Gelati do not.

Getting there

On the slopes of Mount Sataplia, an extinct volcano just north of Kutaisi and about five kilometres out in a straight line — the shortest trip of any of the region's main sites. The ticket office and car park sit lower down the hill, roughly four hundred metres from the cave mouth, and the visit is a signposted loop on foot from there through Colchic forest to the cave, the footprint shelter and the viewing platform.

Best time to visit

Late spring and autumn, when the Colchic forest on the hill is at its best and the platform has a view. Clear weather matters here in a way it does not underground.

Through the year

Hours shorten in autumn and winter. The cave and the footprints are under cover and unaffected by weather; the walk and the viewpoint are not.

Safety

The forest paths are steep in places and the limestone is slippery after rain.

Public transport

No dedicated service is documented. It is close enough to Kutaisi that a taxi is the usual answer.

Accessibility

The site is a hillside loop with slopes and steps, and the glass platform is reached on foot. The Agency of Protected Areas publishes no accessibility statement for it, so anyone with limited mobility should ask the site directly rather than rely on this page.

Visiting

Type: Cave
Where: Banoja, Tsqaltubo Municipality, Imereti
Time needed: About an hour on site
On foot: A signposted loop of about 30–45 minutes on made paths
Opening: A managed site with set hours: the Agency of Protected Areas publishes 10:00–18:00 in spring and summer and 10:00–17:00 in autumn and winter. Check the agency's own page before travelling — these are the operator's hours and they change.
Cost: There is an entrance fee, paid at the visitor centre. The Agency of Protected Areas sets and publishes the tariff; XTOUR does not quote a figure, because a price copied from elsewhere is wrong the week it changes.
Parking: A dedicated car park at the visitor centre.
Best for: Families, anyone with only half a day out of Kutaisi, and travellers who like the idea of a fossil trackway more than the idea of a long cave.
Not ideal for: Anyone who came to Georgia for caves — Prometheus, twenty minutes further on, is the substantial one. Also poor in fog, when the viewing platform shows nothing.

Details last verified 2026-09-10. Conditions change — check locally before setting out.

Where it is

Sataplia Cave on the map

Explore on XTOUR Map

42.3117, 42.6750

Base yourself nearby

City

Kutaisi

Kutaisi is one of Georgia’s oldest cities and the cultural heart of Imereti, combining medieval monuments, lively markets, bridges over the Rioni, distinctive western Georgian food and easy access to caves, monasteries, canyons, spa towns and wine country.

Getting here

How to get to Sataplia Cave

By air
Fly into Kutaisi International Airport (KUT).
By road
Continue from Kutaisi International Airport by road.
21.9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
On foot
The last stretch is on foot: A signposted loop of about 30–45 minutes on made paths.

Open directions in Google Maps

Vehicle

Accessible by standard car

An ordinary hire car reaches this on made roads. No special vehicle is needed.

· Made roads the whole way

Road last checked 2026-09-10.

A description of the road, not an assurance about your trip. Conditions change with weather and season.

Arrival airport

Kutaisi International AirportKUT

21.9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ

Kutaisi International is about fifteen kilometres away, which makes this one of the few sights in Georgia that genuinely fits into the gap between a flight and a hotel check-in. Made roads the whole way, but a car or taxi is needed.