Kaçkar Mountains

The Kaçkar Mountains (Kaçkar Dağları) are the highest range of the Pontic Alps in northeastern Turkey, topping out at 3937 m. This is a different Turkey: not a sun-baked coast but damp alpine meadows, glacial lakes and the wooden villages of the Hemshin highlanders, reached by climbing through rainforest from the Black Sea. Trekking hubs are the Ayder plateau with its hot springs and the Olgunlar and Davali yaylas, gateways to the passes and to Deniz Gölü, the country's deepest glacial lake.