Erfelek Waterfalls

The Tatlıca falls at Erfelek are a sequence of twenty-eight cascades on a single stream in dense Black Sea forest, dropping in steps down a narrow valley over a couple of kilometres. A boardwalk of wood and steel runs up beside the water, crossing it on small bridges, so the whole set can be walked in about an hour and a half return without any scrambling. The falls themselves are modest individually - a few metres each - and the point is the sequence and the setting: beech, hornbeam, hazel and rhododendron pressing in, moss on everything, and enough water noise that conversation gets difficult. It rains here often, which is why the forest looks the way it does, and the boardwalks are slippery in consequence. There are picnic areas and a café at the entrance. It is forty kilometres from Sinop on a road that climbs inland from the coast, and it is one of the quieter attractions in a quiet province.

The landscape

• The stepped falls - twenty-eight cascades along the stream.
• The boardwalk - wooden walkways and bridges up the valley.
• The Black Sea forest - beech, hazel and rhododendron.
• The picnic ground - the facilities at the entrance.

When to go

April to June for the most water and spring green; September to October for colour. Summer reduces the flow considerably.

What to expect

Individual falls are small - the appeal is the sequence and the forest. Boardwalks are wet and slippery, and the trail involves steady climbing. A car is needed from Sinop.

Nearby

Sinop's fortress and Hamsilos fjord are on the coast; the Küre mountains are west.