From Sapanca to Taraklı, from the Lake to the Waterfall, from the Bridge to the Mansions

The shoreline that runs down to the lake in the centre of Sapanca is the starting point of this stop. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism presents this shore as a walking area right at the water's edge. Leave the car in the centre and start by walking along the shore, because the real task of this stop is to see the lake close up and at a quiet hour. In the early morning the surface is often still, and the wooded hills on the far shore are reflected in the water. Stop on the shore and first try to grasp the size of the lake. The lake stretches about sixteen kilometres from east to west and widens to about five kilometres from north to south. Its surface sits thirty-three metres above sea level. Turkish Wikipedia gives its deepest point as sixty-one metres and its average depth as thirty-six metres, while the introduction of the English article gives a maximum depth of fifty-two metres. Knowing that the lake sits in a tectonic trough makes the landscape easier to read. This channel between the Samanlı Mountains rising to the south and the low hills to the north keeps the lake long and narrow. As you walk along the shore, look at the water level too. According to measurements, the water rises in winter and spring and falls towards autumn, and in most years the difference between the two levels is between seventy and ninety centimetres. If you come in autumn, you may notice that the shoreline has drawn back. Observations around the lake have recorded sixty-nine bird species. The largest number of species is seen in April, while in winter the number of species falls and the number of individual birds rises. Keep quiet as you approach the reed beds on the shore, and bring binoculars if you have them. Evliya Çelebi also described this lake, praising the loads carried by boat and freshwater fish such as trout and carp. The traveller sums up its water in a short sentence: "Its water is very pure and clear." This still matters today, because the lake supplies most of the drinking water of the city of Sakarya. That is why leaving no litter on the shore and throwing nothing into the water is especially important here. When you finish the shore walk, you can spend a few minutes at the remains of the Rüstempaşa Bath in the centre if you wish. The foundations of the bath, part of a complex built in the sixteenth century, were uncovered in work that began in 2015, and the remains have been made visitable with a wooden walkway and a glass floor. The lake's surplus water passes through the outlet at its eastern end into the Çark Stream, and this water joins the Sakarya River near the village of Seyifler in Ferizli. On the way to the next stop you will also descend into the valley of the same river, but in the opposite direction, towards the south. Leave Sapanca, join the D-650 highway and continue through the Geyve Gorge to the Doğançay turn-off.

Source: Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Sapanca Sahili; Kültür Portalı, Sapanca Gölü; Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Turizm Broşürü 2025; Wikipedia, Sapanca Gölü.

Doğançay Waterfall lies within the boundaries of the village of Maksudiye in Geyve and, according to Turkish Wikipedia, about ten kilometres off the Sakarya-Bilecik D-650 road. After you leave the main road, the road narrows and the bends become more frequent. The Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism notes that the road is only wide enough for two vehicles to pass and that larger vehicles may struggle. Sources differ on the road surface; the directorate writes that the whole road is asphalt, while the Culture Portal and Wikipedia say that the last two kilometres are a dirt road. So drive slowly on the day after rain and take care on the final section. In periods of heavy winter the last kilometres of the road can be covered with snow, while in other seasons it is easy to reach. Leave your vehicle at the point where the walk begins and check your shoes. You go down to the waterfall on a dirt path that passes through hazelnut orchards. The waterfall lies in the stream bed, about three hundred metres below the starting point. According to the directorate, the descent and climb take forty minutes on average. Take the descent without hurrying, because the real effort is the uphill climb on the way back. Along the path you begin to see the steep slopes of the valley between the hazelnut branches. The municipality's tourism brochure describes the waterfall as five steps side by side on the stream, with the water pouring into its bed as foam. When you reach the bottom, first look from a distance for a while and try to pick out the steps one by one. Because the amount of water changes with the season, you should expect the waterfall to be much fuller in spring. The spot where the waterfall stands is usually cool, and a light extra layer is useful even in summer. Do not climb onto wet rocks and do not get too close to the water for photographs. The sources give different figures for the altitude; Wikipedia writes about four hundred, the directorate four hundred and fifty, and the Culture Portal six hundred metres. The area was declared a nature park of about four hectares on 13 May 2013. The Culture Portal notes that the road to the waterfall is also used as a hiking trail. According to the brochure, the lower parts of the waterfall also have areas suitable for picnics and walking paths. If you want to take a lunch break here, bring your food with you, because the local facility at the starting point is not always open. On the way back, climb slowly while pacing your breath, and stop now and then to look at the valley one last time. Then return to the D-650 and continue south towards Alifuatpaşa.

Source: Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Doğançay Şelalesi; Kültür Portalı, Doğançay Şelalesi; Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Turizm Broşürü 2025; Wikipedia, Doğançay Şelalesi.

The Bayezid II Bridge stands over the Sakarya River on the link between Alifuatpaşa and Geyve, and it is still open to traffic today. Leave your vehicle in a safe place at the head of the bridge and look at the bridge from the bank first. To see the bridge as a whole you need to move a little way along the riverbank, because most of the structure extends over the land side. The Culture Portal writes that the bridge rests on fourteen piers and that only four of these stand in the river. Nine small round arches line up on the Alifuatpaşa side, while the large pointed arches stand over the river. The source compares the shape of the large central pier to a sarcophagus. Look carefully at the front of the piers as well. There are triangular cutwaters on the upstream side and pentagonal ones on the downstream side, built to protect the piers against the current. The same source also explains that two of the arches later collapsed and were repaired with iron. You can easily pick out this trace of repair when you look from below the bridge. The sources differ on the dimensions. The Culture Portal gives the length of the bridge as one hundred and fifty metres and its width as five metres sixty centimetres, while Turkish Wikipedia gives the length as one hundred and ninety-six and a half metres and the number of spans as fifteen. When you turn to the construction of the bridge, look for the inscription. According to the sources, the main inscription is on the back face of the stone section with a niche at the Geyve end of the bridge and gives the year 1495-1496. Go close and look at the ornament on the thin band framing the inscription. The Culture Portal notes that this band carries a hatayi-style decoration of curling branches with rumi motifs and peonies, reflecting the decorative taste of the late fifteenth century. Fakir Abdullah is named as the architect and engineer of the bridge. According to the municipality's brochure, in its time the bridge stood at one of the important junctions of the road linking Istanbul and Baghdad. It is known that in the Republican period a steel frame was placed beneath the main bridge and the bridge was repaired twice; Wikipedia gives the last repair as 1949. Also glance at the small islet north of the bridge, because the remains of a collapsed Byzantine-period bridge stand there. If you want to walk across the bridge, remember that the pavement is narrow and vehicles pass. Right next to the bridge is the National Forces and Ali Fuat Cebesoy Museum; opened in 1989, its ground floor is devoted to the National Forces period and its upper floor to Ali Fuat Cebesoy. If you also want to see the museum, extend the time you set aside for this stop and check the current opening information on its official website. From here the road leaves the river and climbs east and upward through the forests to Taraklı.

Source: Kültür Portalı, II. Bayezid Köprüsü; Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Tarihi II. Bayezid Köprüsü ve Ali Fuat Paşa Kuvayı Milliye Müzesi; Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Turizm Broşürü 2025; Wikipedia, II. Bayezid Köprüsü (Geyve).

Taraklı is a town built on the slopes of Hıdırlık Hill and Hisar Hill and in the valley between these two hills. When you arrive, leave the vehicle at the entrance to the centre and explore the rest on foot, because the streets are narrow and steep. Since the district centre stands on average four hundred and forty-four metres above sea level, you notice straight away that the air is cooler than in the valley. As a first step, climb Hisar Hill to see the town from above. According to the municipality's page there are two water cisterns on the hill, dated to between 2000 BC and 1000 BC. It is also stated that excavation work continues on the hill, so do not enter the excavation areas and follow the signs. Looking down from the hill, you see how the stream coming from the direction of Göynük divides the valley in two and how the houses step up the slopes. Then go down to the old streets. The streets are paved with cobblestones, and here and there are resting stones placed so that people carrying loads could rest. The general feature of the houses is that they have three storeys, and some of them are more than three centuries old. According to the municipality's brochure, the town has two- to three-century-old houses and mansions, more than a hundred of them registered. Because people live in most of these houses, do not enter their doors and courtyards, and take your photographs from the street. Then walk to the plane tree in the Yusufbey neighbourhood. This tree, said to be about seven hundred years old, is the symbol of the district, and a historic fountain stands right beside it. In the past the tree survived a serious fire threat but was saved without major damage. The resting area under the plane tree is a good place for the last break of the route. The Yunus Paşa Mosque in the town centre is a historic building dated 1517, and it is popularly known as the Kurşunlu Mosque because of its lead-covered dome. It is said that steam from the nearby Ottoman-period bath was once used to heat this building. Because Taraklı lies on the Baghdad Road, the historic inn where caravans stopped is also among the town's important buildings. The brochure also mentions the historic Orhan Gazi Bazaar, where you can see the town's handicrafts. Taraklı takes its name from a traditional craft. The ministry's promotional website quotes a sentence by Evliya Çelebi: "Because they all make spoons and combs, they call the town Taraklu." Turkish Wikipedia, however, treats this explanation as a folk tale and offers other views on the origin of the name. Spoons are still made from boxwood and beech in the area today, and a boxwood spoon is considered more valuable than those made of other woods. Models of the town's houses are also produced, so the architectural tradition continues on a small scale as well. Uğut, a sweet particular to the area, is also counted among the well-known flavours of Taraklı. Taraklı joined the Cittaslow network in 2011 and, according to Turkish Wikipedia, was removed from the list in 2022; some official pages still mention the title. End the day here in the late afternoon light and set off on the drive back before it gets dark.

Source: Taraklı Belediyesi, Taraklı Gezilecek Yerler; Sakarya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Taraklı ve Evleri; GoTürkiye, Sakarya Dokun; Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi Turizm Broşürü 2025; Wikipedia, Taraklı.