Shahandasht Village

Shahandasht is a summer highland (yeylaq) village in the Larijan district of Amol County, Mazandaran Province. It is one of the historic and scenic villages of northern Iran, located in the Amiri area along the Haraz Road. With a history of around 3,500 years, the village offers mountain scenery and a pleasant climate, along with a range of natural and historical attractions. With four sites listed on Iran's National Heritage List, it is regarded as one of the country's important ecotourism villages. Shahandasht lies about 70 km from Amol and about 110 km from Tehran, at an altitude of around 1,500 meters above sea level. The fertile soil, numerous springs, lush orchards and favorable climate allow a wide variety of fruit trees to grow here, and walnuts, mulberries, apples and grapes are among its best-known products.

The village's main attraction is the powerful, perennial Shahandasht Waterfall, which lies south of the road and the Haraz River, next to Malek Bahman Castle. Together with a series of other cascades, it creates a spectacular view on the mountainside. The main waterfall is about 51 meters high, and the Shahandasht cascades as a whole drop about 180 meters. Malek Bahman Castle, also known as Malek Qala, stands above the village on top of a rock about 220 meters higher than the Shahandasht lands, and is one of the region's most notable historical sites. Other sights in the village include the Shahandasht Tekyeh (from the Qajar period), the Si Tower of Shahandasht (from the pre-Islamic era), Elyas Tangeh (As Tangeh) Cave, Kabutar Koli Cave, Shuna Plain, Takhtehsangi, the Se-Taq rock tombs, Imamzadeh Elyas, Khuzak Spring, historic mud-brick houses, and the grafted walnut orchard of Shahandasht. The old garden lanes, garden houses and fruit orchards add to the village's charm. Local souvenirs include cherries, sour cherries, apples, walnuts, raspberries, mulberries, pears, apricots, mountain bread and the special bread of the Mazandaran people.

Shahandasht can be reached via the Haraz Road. The village's waterfall is at kilometer 96 of the Haraz Road, about 65 km from Amol, and the waterfall can be seen from the road. There are two routes into the village; on one of them you enter after driving a short dirt road, and there are several parking areas inside the village. To reach the waterfall, park your car and continue on foot through the garden lanes and houses of the village; the walk to the waterfall takes about 15 minutes. The route to Malek Bahman Castle is about half an hour of steep walking. The southern route to the waterfall is easier than the northern one, leads to the base of the waterfall and allows camping and pitching tents. The northern route, by contrast, goes from the upper part of the village to the top of the waterfall and is rougher because of large boulders and steep slopes. Since this is a summer highland area, spring and summer are the best times to visit Shahandasht and enjoy its nature and climate. During your visit, please avoid damaging the orchards, vegetation and historic buildings, do not leave litter in nature, and follow safety rules and responsible nature-tourism principles around the waterfall and on the mountain trails.