One day trip to Turnalık & Çiğdem & Dikmen plateaus in Turkey

After a very busy working week, we couldn't resist our desire to be in nature somewhere outside of crowded city Istanbul even for one day.  Let's hit the road guys...

One of the best views we've reached on the trip.

We headed east from Istanbul on E80 (TEM) highway,

After a 2-hour highway driving we reached muddy roads that climb the highlands.

Our first destination is Turnalık plateau.

Turnalık plateau.

Turnalık Plateau is located in the Akyazı district of Sakarya city. It is a small plateau on Elmacık Mountains, 1.5 km from Çiğdem Plateau. Turnalık has a beautiful nature, a pond and highland houses around it. If you're fed up with the big city and are looking for a place to escape by taking a night camping, this is the place for you. I would recommend spring, autumn and winter for camping; in the summer, frogs in the pond and flies can be disturbing. Also the best place to set up a tent is around the pond can be crowded in summer. There is no grocery, cafe, restaurant or accommodation facility in the plateau so I suggest you to do your shopping before arriving Turnalık.

We had a picnic beside a house.

After having a nice picnic, we continued towards Çiğdem Plateau.

Road to Çiğdem Plateau.

We've reached Çiğdem Plateau.

Çiğdem is one of the largest plateau of the Elmacık mountain range. Plateau is at an altitude of 1.450 m. "Çiğdem" means crocus in English; the plateau takes its name from crocus flowers; in spring and autumn these flowers bloom in wide pastures and create an exquisite landscape.

Crocus flowers in Çiğdem Plateau.

The vast pastures of the plateau offer nice opportunities for hiking, mountain biking and tent camping. 

Wooden highland houses in Çiğdem plateau.

In recent years, concrete houses built on the plateau do not match the environment at all. I wish Çiğdem will be preserved by demolishing the concrete buildings and not allowing more buildings. 

There is a small grocery and cafe in the plateau but not always active, so I suggest you to do your shopping before arriving.

Houses under snow cover at Çiğdem plateau. (2007)

Our next destination is Dikmen plateau and Dikmen hill.

Road to Dikmen plateau.

Road to Dikmen plateau.

Dikmen plateau.

Dikmen plateau houses are located on the slopes of Dikmen Hill. The hill is the highest peak of the city of Sakarya with an altitude of 1710 meters and this high hill offers a very nice view.

Grassland between highland houses and the peak.

There are nice areas for tent camping around the hill but finding a windless area may not always be easy, as it is the highest peak here.

We were above the clouds as they were flowing.

We sunbathed, played volleyball, relaxed; we didn't need anything else to be happy.

We can't get enough of this view.

We drived to the top of Dikmen Hill to watch the sunset.

Reaching the top was not an easy climb even for our Discovery 2 offroader.

We were above the clouds and the sun was going down...

As the sun went down we hit the road back to our home guys, thanks for reading...

Click here to view the route.

You can check the below youtube link to watch some more moments of our trip.