Ankara's Water Trail from the Republic's First Dam to Kurtboğazı

On the Samsun road, 12 kilometres from the city centre; the easiest reservoir to reach in Ankara. The earth-fill dam on the Bayındır Stream was built between 1962 and 1965 to supply the city with drinking water: 30 metres high, holding 6.97 million cubic metres, with a lake of 0.71 square kilometres. The numbers look small today; indeed, when its status changed in 2011, ASKİ's general director said that even completely full the dam could not cover a single week of Ankara's water. Once large sources such as Çamlıdere came online, Bayındır left the drinking water inventory and was reclassified by law as a flood protection structure. That is why the route starts here: you see the scale of the 1960s and compare it at the end of the day with Kurtboğazı's 101 million cubic metres.

In 2005 the Metropolitan Municipality turned the lakeside into a recreation area named Mavi Göl, the Blue Lake. The grounds cover 1,138,081 square metres, laid out for a full day with mature trees, picnic spots and walking paths. Walk along the shore and look at the blue of the lake from the top of the dam wall; that is where the name comes from. Entering the water is dangerous and forbidden, so follow the warning signs.

For those coming by public transport, EGO buses reach the area via Mamak; check the current line number with EGO. Come early in the morning; on weekend afternoons the picnic crowds grow and the car park fills. An hour is enough: a loop along the shore, a photograph on the dam wall, then from the east of the city to its north, to Çubuk-1.

Source: Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Bayındır Barajı statü haberi; Mamak Kaymakamlığı, Mavi Göl; Wikipedia.

Eleven kilometres north of the city, in the Çubuk Stream valley, stands the Republic's first dam. Surveys began in 1927, the decision for a concrete dam came in 1929, and a Turkish firm built it between 1930 and 1936 with Turkish engineers and workers. Opened by Atatürk on 3 November 1936, it is a concrete arch dam 25 metres high; it held 12.5 million cubic metres and, with the filter station built beside it, formed Ankara's first modern drinking water system. The lake quickly became the city's promenade, and the casino on its shore was the weekend address of Ankara's residents for many years.

Then a long decline: pollution of the Çubuk Stream and silting of the lake stopped water intake in 1994, the casino and facilities were demolished in 2016, and the area fell idle. In the renewal begun in 2019, ASKİ crews removed 550 truckloads of mud; the 413,000 square metre grounds reopened on 29 October 2020, and at the end of 2021 the dam held water again after 27 years.

What to do: first climb onto the arch and look at the curve of the concrete, that is where you grasp the scale of 1936. Enter through the Kitabeli Kapı, the inscribed gate, and visit the Atatürk House and the Bayrak Tepe viewpoint; a 736-metre nature trail and a 520-metre cycle path circle the lake. The 219,000 square metre picnic area has tables and grills, and the car park holds 619 vehicles. EGO lines heading towards Çubuk reach the grounds; check the current line number with EGO. This is the longest stop of the route; give it an hour and a half and have lunch here.

Source: ASKİ, Çubuk-1 Barajı Rekreasyon Alanı haberi; ASKİ, Ankara Suyunun Tarihçesi; Polatoğlu 2019, Atatürk Yolu Dergisi; Wikipedia.

About six kilometres north of Çubuk, a short detour from the town centre. At this stop you only look; the reason follows. When Çubuk-1 was no longer enough, the next step was taken higher up the same stream: the earth-fill dam built between 1961 and 1964 is 61 metres high and holds 22 to 24 million cubic metres in a lake of 1.2 square kilometres. It is fed by the Mendek, Kışla, Hacıkadın, Bağırcan, Çayır and Kırkpınar streams; the water descends through a 34-kilometre pipeline to the Pursaklar treatment plant and serves both Ankara and the Çubuk district. While the dam of 1936 has retired, this one is still on duty.

Being on duty sets the limit of the visit. ASKİ has declared the basins of the dams supplying the city's drinking water special protection areas: entering the water, picnicking, lighting fires and leaving waste are forbidden, and crews inspect at weekends. The reasoning is plain, every bit of pollution in the basin goes straight into treatment costs and the tap. The Çubuk Municipality's website lists this among its picnic spots; we take the rule from ASKİ and do not suggest going down to the shore or spreading a blanket.

The thing to do is see the dam wall and the lake from a distance and photograph the difference in scale against Çubuk-1: 61 metres against 25. Ten minutes are enough; then return to Çubuk and follow the Karagöl signs, with 28 kilometres of winding climb ahead.

Source: ASKİ, Çubuk II Barajı; ASKİ, barajlara girmek yasaktır uyarısı; Çubuk Belediyesi; Wikipedia.

28 kilometres beyond Çubuk and 68 from Ankara, the road climbs to 1,630 metres and drops into the wooded basin where Kavak Mountain meets Yıldırım Mountain. Karagöl is a small crater lake formed between volcanic domes; with a surface of 23.5 hectares and a depth reaching 70 metres in a closed basin, it holds far more water than it appears to. The andesitic and dacitic rocks around it date to 12 to 21 million years ago, the same Miocene volcanism as the Kızılcahamam geopark; the district governorate's pages say the lake formed in the hollow of a landslide that came down from Işık Mountain to the north. The other stops on this route are water held by human hands; this is the natural one.

The area is a nature park, its operation handed by tender to the Metropolitan Municipality; embankments were built along the shore after the designation. Picnicking and nature walks are allowed; a country restaurant, toilets and the car park are at the entrance. The forest mixes oak, juniper, poplar and pine, and 27 moss species are recorded in the area. The Çubuk District Governorate places it in the transition belt between Central Anatolia's continental climate and Black Sea humidity, so even summer middays are cool; bring a cardigan.

Walk the shore path end to end, since you only grasp the lake's scale from the far bank. Being a closed basin, the lake has no outlet; entering the water is forbidden and keeping it clean matters here especially. Visitors number around 100,000 a year and weekend afternoons are crowded; give it an hour and a quarter, then set out for Kurtboğazı.

Source: Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı 9. Bölge Müdürlüğü, Çubuk Karagöl Tabiat Parkı; Çubuk Kaymakamlığı; Wikipedia, Karagöl (Çubuk).

The last stop of the day is at kilometre 56 of the İstanbul road, in the Ciğir neighbourhood of Kahramankazan. The earth-fill dam on the Kurtboğazı Stream was built between 1963 and 1967; it is 54 metres high and holds 101.5 million cubic metres at normal level. Compare that with the 7 million you saw at Mavi Göl in the morning: close to fifteen times. It supplies 67 million cubic metres of drinking and domestic water a year and irrigates 3,780 hectares of farmland. It is fed by the Bahtılı, Kınık, Pazar and Uzunöz streams; Eğrekkaya Dam, built between 1985 and 1992, also sends its water here through a 15-kilometre pipe, and Akyar feeds Eğrekkaya. The chain ends at the İvedik treatment plant. Ankara's largest source is Çamlıdere, in service since 1985; the Kurtboğazı system is the second backbone beside it.

What sets it apart from the other drinking water dams is the picnic ground that has operated on its shore for years. The Kahramankazan District Governorate's page mentions nature walks, picnicking and angling; the lake holds mirror carp, common carp and silver fish. There are picnic tables and a country restaurant; the Ankara Governorate also mentions a pool and water sports, so ask on site. Entering the water is forbidden; ASKİ's basin rule applies here too, and the picnic ground operates within it.

In the evening light, look at the dam wall from the lakeshore; the day's first dam was 25 metres, this one is 54. The return is a straight run to Ankara on the D750. At weekends leave early, since the grounds fill in the afternoon; and take your rubbish with you.

Source: Kahramankazan Kaymakamlığı, Kurtboğazı Barajı; ASKİ, Su Kaynaklarımız; Ankara Valiliği, Barajlar; Wikipedia.