Tortum Waterfall

Tortum Lake formed a few centuries ago when a landslide blocked the valley, and at its lower end the river drops over a rock lip in a fall around fifty metres high and twenty wide, the largest in this part of the country. Terraces and a stair let you look at it from the side and from below, close enough to be soaked in spray when the water is high. The setting is bare and severe: red and grey rock walls, thin poplars, the deep Coruh country all around. Flow depends heavily on the season and on the hydroelectric plant that uses the same water, so the fall can be thunderous in June and thin by September.

What you actually see

• The drop - about fifty metres over a wide rock lip.
• The viewing terraces - stairs and platforms beside and below the fall.
• Tortum Lake - the landslide-dammed lake stretching north above it.
• The Coruh country - bare red and grey rock walls around the valley.

When to go

Late spring and early summer, when snowmelt fills the lake, give the fall at its strongest; by late summer it can be down to a trickle. Morning light works better for photographs from the terraces. The road from Erzurum is long, so combine the fall with the Coruh valley rather than driving out and straight back.

Honest expectations

There is a real chance of arriving to find very little water, and nobody tells you in advance. The terraces are plain concrete and the site is basic: a car park, a kiosk, not much else. Spray keeps the lower steps slippery. The drive is roughly two hours each way on mountain road, for a stop of about an hour.

Nearby

Tortum Lake, the Uzundere valley and the medieval churches of the Coruh.