Kartalkaya: Ski Resort on the Köroğlu Mountains

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1. What is Kartalkaya?
2. How do you get to Kartalkaya?
3. When is the best time to visit Kartalkaya?
4. What is the history of Kartalkaya?
5. What is Kartalkaya famous for?
6. What can you do at Kartalkaya?
7. Frequently asked questions about Kartalkaya
8. What do the official records say about Kartalkaya?

What is Kartalkaya?

Kartalkaya is a ski resort on the Köroğlu Mountains, 54 km from Bolu. It is a resort of hotels rather than a village: before skiing arrived in the 1970s there was no permanent settlement here, and the slopes were summer grazing (Wikipedia). Runs descend from about 2,255 m to a base at about 1,850 m through scattered pine forest.

On 21 January 2025 a fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel killed at least 78 people and injured 51; the hotel was destroyed.

How do you get to Kartalkaya?

Kartalkaya is about 54 km from Bolu. Leave the O-4 motorway or D-100 at Bolu and follow the mountain road up from the plain. The last stretch climbs steeply and needs winter tyres and chains in snow.

Bolu is on the O-4 motorway between Istanbul and Ankara. The nearest airports are Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Ankara Esenboğa; ask your hotel about transfers when booking.

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When is the best time to visit Kartalkaya?

The ski season lasts about 120 days, roughly from 20 December to 20 March (Wikipedia); the 2002 inventory gave a longer window, from mid-December to mid-April, with an average snow depth of 250 cm. January and February usually have the most reliable snow. The mid-year Turkish school holiday, usually in late January and early February, is the busiest time.

Check the current season’s opening and which hotels and lifts are operating before you book.

What is the history of Kartalkaya?

Kartalkaya was developed as a ski resort in the 1970s. It lies within the Bolu–Köroğlu Mountain Tourism Area, declared on 6 September 1982. By 2002 the inventory recorded two hotels and a lift system of teleskis and chairlifts. The inventory also notes that because of limited drinking water, new investment requests for the area were being directed to other ski centres.

The resort has since grown to four main hotels with 14 runs, 3 chairlifts, 7 surface lifts and a terrain park (Wikipedia). The fire of January 2025 destroyed one of its best-known hotels.

Where to stay. Accommodation at Kartalkaya is in the resort’s own hotels at the foot of the slopes; listed by Wikipedia are the Kartal Hotel, DorukKaya Ski & Mountain Resort, Kaya Palazzo Ski & Mountain Resort and Golden Key Kartalkaya. Check which are operating this season. Alternatively, stay in Bolu town, with more choice and prices, and drive up each day; allow extra time in snow.

What is Kartalkaya famous for?

• Skiing between Istanbul and Ankara. It is within reach of both cities by motorway.
• Deep snow. The 2002 inventory gives an average snow depth of 250 cm.
• Ski-in, ski-out hotels. The resort is built around a handful of large hotels at the foot of the slopes.
• The Köroğlu Mountains. The range is named after Köroğlu, the outlaw-hero of Turkish folk epic, and Bolu holds a Köroğlu festival every October according to the 2002 inventory.

What can you do at Kartalkaya?

Ski and snowboard. Runs range from gentle slopes near the base to steeper pistes higher up, between 1,850 and 2,255 m, with a vertical drop of about 400 m.

Learn. Ski schools and equipment rental are available at the resort, and the gentler slopes near the base suit beginners.

Use the terrain park. A terrain park serves snowboarders and freestyle skiers.

Visit Bolu’s lakes in winter. On a non-ski day, Lake Gölcük under snow is about an hour away, and Lake Abant has winter walks round the frozen shore.

Soak in hot springs. The Bolu hot springs at Karacasu, 5 km from town, are a good end to a ski trip. The 2002 inventory describes Karacasu as a quiet resting place surrounded by forest, with a thermal hotel, large and small spring baths and a state physical-therapy hospital, and lists the waters as good for rheumatism and a long list of other complaints.

Try the smaller ski areas. Esentepe, north of Gerede at about 1,300 m, has long had skiing and, according to the 2002 inventory, even grass skiing in summer; it looks out over the whole district from among century-old pines, and the inventory records that Atatürk gave it its name because of the wind that blows there constantly. The provincial directorate also lists the Arkut ski centre near Gerede, below Arkut Mountain, now a nature park.

Summer. Outside the ski season, the Köroğlu Mountains are walking country, with plateaus and forest roads; the inventory lists Köroğlu Mountain among Bolu’s hiking areas.

Frequently asked questions about Kartalkaya

What do the official records say about Kartalkaya?

Location: 54 km from Bolu city centre. Climate: continental. Skiing season: 4 months (15 December–15 April). Snow depth: average 250 cm. Altitude: 2,200 m. Ski areas: between 1,850 and 2,200 m.

Kartalkaya Ski Centre lies within the Bolu–Köroğlu Mountain Tourism Area declared on 6.9.1982. Abant, Yedigöller and Gölcük are excursion areas, and there are hot springs in the city.

As a result of taking the existing drinking-water capacity into account, efforts are being made to direct new investment requests for this area to other ski centres. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bolu Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)