Aladağlar National Park

The Aladağlar are the highest part of the central Taurus, a compact block of limestone rising to Demirkazık at around three thousand seven hundred and fifty metres, with sheer walls, deep glacial valleys, karst plateaus and almost no trees above the base - the rock takes a reddish tone in low sun, which gives the range its name. It is the centre of Turkish mountaineering and rock climbing: the big north face of Demirkazık, the Yedigöller plateau with its seven small tarns, the Emler and Kaldı summits, and long walking routes through the Hacer, Narpuz and Çimbar valleys with waterfalls and karst springs. The base villages around Çamardı have guesthouses and guides, and pastoral communities still take flocks to the high yaylas in summer. This is serious terrain: routes are unmarked, weather turns fast at altitude, water is scarce on the limestone, and rescue is distant. Guides are not a formality here.

What you actually see

• The Demirkazık face - the range's great north wall.
• The Yedigöller plateau - seven tarns in a high basin.
• The glacial valleys - Hacer, Narpuz and Çimbar.
• The summer yaylas - shepherd camps on the high pastures.

When to go

June to September; snow lies late and the high routes are alpine outside that window. Even in summer nights are cold and afternoon storms are common.

Honest expectations

Routes are unmarked and the limestone is loose in places - a local guide is genuinely necessary above the valleys. Water sources are scarce and unreliable. Facilities are village guesthouses and basic huts.

Nearby

Kapuzbaşı waterfalls are on the eastern side; Niğde and Cappadocia are north-west.