Kaçkar Mountains National Park

National park · Pontic Mountains — Northern Turkey

Autumn foliage at Kaçkar Mountains National Park
Photo: Engin Tavlı / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Turkey's Black Sea range crests at Mount Kaçkar, 3,937m, its lower slopes holding Colchic forest of oriental beech, sweet chestnut and alder that runs down toward the coast. Color climbs the mountainside through October, with the second and third weeks typically showing the most vivid red and gold.

Best for: a high-altitude trekking base for fall color

Don’t miss

  • Colchic beech-chestnut forest belt
  • Mount Kaçkar (3,937m)
  • Black Sea coastal approach
Typical year

Peak: October 8–October 21

Climatological window from published records — the weather model’s elevation extrapolation isn’t reliable on this terrain, so this is the long-run normal rather than a season-specific forecast.

Source: https://letsgomelo.com/plan/turkey/turkey-experiences/kackar-mountains/

Kaçkar Mountains National Park on the map

More things to do in Pontic Mountains — Northern Turkey

Yedigöller (Seven Lakes) National Park

National park

Typically October 15–November 15

Seven small lakes formed by ancient landslides sit inside a beech and hornbeam forest at 900m in Bolu Province, the westernmost reach of Turkey's Black Sea forest belt. The trees color from mid-October into November, ringing Büyükgöl and the other lakes in red, yellow and rust doubled in still water.

Don’t miss: seven landslide-dammed lakes · beech-hornbeam forest at 900m · reflective lake-shore color

Uzungöl

Lake

A landslide-dammed lake at 1,100m in Trabzon's Çaykara district, formed when the Haldizen Stream was blocked and now ringed by spruce forest and chestnut-farmed slopes descending toward the Black Sea coast. Forest around the shoreline turns through September and October ahead of highland snow.

Don’t miss: landslide-formed mountain lake · 1,100m elevation · chestnut-farmed valley slopes

See all things to do in Pontic Mountains — Northern Turkey →

Frequently asked

When does Kaçkar Mountains National Park peak?
In a typical year, color peaks around October 8–October 21. The weather model's elevation extrapolation isn't reliable on this terrain, so this is a climatological window (source: https://letsgomelo.com/plan/turkey/turkey-experiences/kackar-mountains/) rather than a season-specific forecast.
What is Kaçkar Mountains National Park best for?
A high-altitude trekking base for fall color.
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