TEHRAN–Tourism authorities in Dargaz county in Khorasan Razavi province plan to boost cave tourism in the region.

Among the capacities that can contribute to the growth and development of tourism are caves and rock shelters in the heights of Dargaz, the county’s tourism chief has said.

The amazing nature of the region, along with its historical sites, makes it a top tourist destination, Mohammad Sheikh said on Monday.

Exploring a cave may not be on the “to-do list” of travelers in Iran. However, Karaftu, Ali-Sadr and Quri Qaleh, and Katale-Khor are among the most visited caves.

Iran is geologically a part of the Alpine-Himalayan organic belt. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia, the enigmatic evidence of human presence on the Iranian plateau is as early as Lower Paleolithic times.

The first well-documented evidence of human habitation is in deposits from several excavated cave and rock-shelter sites, located mainly in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran and dated to Middle Paleolithic or Mousterian times (c. 100,000 BC).

ABU/AM