Saklıkent Gorge

Natural Park

Ice-cold water rushing between rock walls rising hundreds of metres — one of Turkey’s deepest and most spectacular gorges.

Its name meaning “hidden city,” Saklıkent is a colossal cleft where water has carved and split the limestone mass of the Akdağ mountains over millions of years, its walls at points only metres apart. The gorge reaches 18 kilometres in total, and its first section is open to visitors; at the entrance you cross wooden platforms hung on the gorge mouth to reach the interior, where the ice-cold Ulupınar spring waters thunder up from deep within the mountain.

Entering the gorge is an adventure in itself: wading through waist-high cold water, edging along wet rock and walking in cool shade while only a thin ribbon of sky shows overhead is unforgettable. Because the water is freezing even in summer heat, the gorge is a natural cooling spot. Bolder visitors can push further with a guide to sections with mud pools and small waterfalls. Just outside, eating trout at wooden pergola restaurants built over the Eşen stream is the region’s classic pleasure. Saklıkent combines easily into the same day as the ancient city of Tlos.