Sapadere Canyon: Cold Water an Hour from the Beach

Sapadere Canyon is the closest thing Alanya has to an antidote for August. It is roughly 40 km inland, up a road that climbs and twists through villages and goat tracks, and at the end of it the temperature drops by ten degrees. That contrast is most of the appeal.

What the walk is actually like

The canyon has a wooden boardwalk running about 700 metres along the stream, bolted to the rock where the gorge narrows. It is flat, railed and fine for most people, including grandparents and children who are steady on their feet. It is not a hike.

At the far end the path opens into a small waterfall dropping into a green pool. People swim. People also come straight back out again, because the water sits somewhere around 10 to 15 °C all year and the shock is real. Go in slowly or not at all.

Getting to Sapadere Canyon

There is no dolmuş that makes this convenient. Your realistic options are a hire car or an organised trip.

By car it is around an hour and fifteen minutes from central Alanya. The road is paved the whole way but narrow and steep in places, with proper hairpins above Demirtaş. If you are nervous about mountain driving, this is not the road to learn on.

The Sapadere Canyon tour is the usual alternative and generally bundles the canyon with a cave visit and lunch, which is a sensible way to fill the day given how far you have driven.

What else is up there

Most itineraries add one or two of these, and they are worth the detour:

• The cave near the entrance, small but properly formed, a cool ten-minute stop.
• Cehennem Deresi, the "hell creek" gorge nearby, much wilder and usually done as a separate canyoning trip with a guide.
• The restaurants over the stream, where the tables sit on platforms above the water and the trout is farmed a hundred metres upstream.
• The village of Sapadere itself, worth ten minutes for the sense of how people live an hour above the resorts.

Sapadere Canyon versus the other cool escapes

Alanya has three standard answers to a heat wave and they are not interchangeable.

Dim Cave and the Dim river are closer, about half an hour out, and the draw there is a big cave plus restaurants built over the water. It is the easy option and the one to pick if you have half a day rather than a whole one.

Green Canyon is a boat day on a reservoir, so it is sitting rather than walking, and the water is deep and swimmable. Sapadere Canyon is the walking one: less lounging, more looking, and the only one of the three where the gorge closes over your head.

If you only have room for one mountain day in a week, and you have small children, take Dim. If you want the photographs, take Sapadere Canyon. If you want to swim properly, take the boat.

Practical notes

• Entrance fee. Small and payable at the gate; tours normally include it.
• Season. May to October is the reliable window. After heavy rain the canyon can close on safety grounds, and in winter parts of the walkway are shut.
• Shoes. Trainers or walking sandals. The boardwalk gets wet and slick, and flip-flops are a bad idea on it.
• Take a towel if you intend to get in the pool. Nobody expects to and half of them do.
• Time it early. Coaches arrive from about 11:00 and the narrow section becomes a queue.

Pair it with a lazy beach day either side. Sapadere Canyon is a half-day of walking and the drive tires people out more than the path does.