ILGAZ, YOU ARE ONE OF ANATOLIA'S GREAT MOUNTAINS
This month, as the cold winter days start to knock on our door, if you want to witness nature getting gently painted white and to behold this beauty in solitude, you should head to Ilgaz Mountain National Park.
This month, as the cold winter days start to knock on our door, if you want to witness nature getting gently painted white and to behold this beauty in solitude, you should head to Ilgaz Mountain National Park.
In 1976, 2,688 acres of land remaining within the bounds of the cities of Kastamonu and Çankırı in the Kızılırmak Basin in the Western Black Sea region, were declared the Ilgaz Mountain National Park. Known for its terrain comprised of antigorite, schist, and volcanic rocks, Ilgaz Mountain National Park features various types of valleys, ridges, and peaks. Combining this land structure with a dense forest, the area presents its visitors with an unforgettable landscape.
Regarded as one of Turkey’s most important protected national parks with its natural, cultural, and recreational resources, the national park harbors at its bosom all shades of green with forests full of Uludağ fir, yellow pine, juniper, alder, and beech.
And under the magnificent forest cover, there actually is a secret world waiting to be explored. The home of mammals such as grizzlies, roebucks, red deer, wolves, foxes, boars, and hares, Ilgaz Mountain National Park is the natural habitat of hundreds of bird species ranging from black starks to honey buzzards, blackbirds to kestrels, turtle doves to owlets, and swifts to nightingales.
This national park offers an enticement every season, and is rich not only in terms of geographical but also historical value. Around 4 kilometers of the 340-kilometers-long road that runs through the park and sets out from the shores of Inebolu leading to Ankara over Kastamonu and Çankırı was used to transport ammunition delivered to
Inebolu by sea to the frontiers with ox carts throughout the War of Independence. That’s why the Istiklal Road Hiking event is held here every year by the Governorates of Kastamonu and Çankırı.
There is a martyrs’ monument in the Ilgaz Mountain National Park. The monument, which was erected in 1957 in memory of five gendarmerie privates who were martyred in 1921 at the Ilgaz Mountain Derbent headquarters in the Derbent locality, is a registered cultural asset.
One of the most important winter touristic centers of Turkey, Ilgaz Mountain National Park is often preferred by visitors in the winter season. There are three ski tracks in the park, which is very popular with visitors especially on vacations and weekends. While in two of these tracks chairlift services are offered, one of them offers telpher services. Mostly preferred by ski and snowboard enthusiasts, it starts to get crowded from December and the season lasts until March.
The period that starts in May and lasts to September, features nature hikes, botanical tours, photo safaris, and activities such as flora, fauna, and bird observations. Two different predetermined routes are used for these activities. On both, you can easily observe the hills, highlands, streams, endemic plant species, and the Uludağ fir forest.
When snow falls, Ilgaz Mountain National Park resembles a bride wearing her gown. Despite lacking a dowry or a wedding chest, it exhibits its magnificent landscape, its forests featuring all shades of green, highlands, hills, and streams to those who come to visit her.
The Ilgaz Mountain region also offers its guests delicious flavors as they inhale the oxygen-rich air and explore the splendid beauties. Famous specifically for its soup, pastries, and halva, this region presents its visitors different local delights like baked “keşkek”, and delicacies prepared with organic honey and local mushrooms. Besides these, ranking top in the list of local must-taste delicacies are “büryan” kebab specific to Kastamonu, “tirit” on pita bread, “çekme halva”,“banduma”, and sour pilaf.
Depending on the season, you can set up your own camping site, or you can stay in a tent, the private hotels, or public guesthouses in the Ilgaz Mountain National Park’s environs. It won’t take you long to get to Ilgaz Mountain National Park by highway from Ankara and the surrounding districts. It is also quite easy to get to this region with Turkish Airlines and AnadoluJet flights departing from Ankara Esenboğa Airport.