Ayder Plateau: Hot Spring and Gateway to the Kaçkar

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

What is Ayder Plateau?

Ayder is a summer plateau (yayla) in a forested valley above Çamlıhemşin, in the province of Rize. For generations families from the valleys below brought their animals up here for the summer; today it is the best-known plateau on the Black Sea coast and a small resort of wooden guesthouses, hotels and restaurants spread across a green meadow, with waterfalls dropping from the cliffs on either side.

Two things make Ayder more than a pretty view: its hot spring, and its position at the foot of the Kaçkar Mountains. The 2002 inventory calls Ayder the best known of the Black Sea plateaus and notes that, with its infrastructure complete, it already looked like a small town.

How do you get to Ayder Plateau?

Ayder is 17 km beyond Çamlıhemşin and about 88 km from Rize. From Rize, follow the coastal highway east past Pazar to Ardeşen, then turn inland up the Fırtına Valley; the inventory gives 22 km from the coast road to Çamlıhemşin. From Çamlıhemşin the road climbs through forest to Ayder. Allow about 1.5–2 hours from Rize.

The nearest airport is Rize–Artvin Airport at Pazar, opened in 2022, which puts Ayder within about an hour and a half of a flight from Istanbul. Trabzon Airport is the alternative. Without a car, take a minibus from Rize or Pazar to Çamlıhemşin and continue by local minibus or taxi.

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When is the best time to visit Ayder Plateau?

The season runs from late May to early October. June brings the greenest meadows and full waterfalls. July and August are the warmest and the most reliable months for walking higher up, but also the busiest, especially at weekends and on Turkish holidays. September is quieter, with clear days for the mountains. Fog often fills the valley in the afternoon, so plan walks for the morning. In winter Ayder is under deep snow and most of the village closes.

What is the history of Ayder Plateau?

Ayder grew from a seasonal pasture used by the people of the Çamlıhemşin valleys, the Hemşin, who still move up to the plateaus in summer and whose wooden houses, horon dances and tulum bagpipes are part of the character of the area. The hot spring has been used for generations, and the inventory lists it as good for internal and stomach complaints, women’s ailments, skin diseases and rheumatism.

Ayder was declared a tourism centre in 1987, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s plateau tourism programme, begun in 1990, chose it as one of its first priorities. An environmental plan for Ayder and the Kaçkar was approved in 1993, followed by a detailed development plan; the inventory notes that the ministry had completed a project for model plateau houses to be built on land it had acquired at Ayder. In 2006 the area became a Culture and Tourism Protection and Development Zone.

As visitors increased, so did building, and the pressure of construction on the plateau’s natural setting has become a recurring concern.

What is Ayder Plateau famous for?

• The hot spring. Thermal water at around 50°C, piped to baths in the village.
• Waterfalls. Several falls drop down the steep valley sides around the village.
• The Kaçkar. The main northern starting point for walks and climbs into the Kaçkar Mountains.
• Plateau culture. Summer festivals with horon dancing, tulum music and, at the Çamlıhemşin–Ayder festival, bull wrestling.

What can you do at Ayder Plateau?

Bathe in the hot spring. The inventory notes that the provincial administration and private businesses built rest facilities and baths around the spring. A soak after a day in the mountains is the classic Ayder evening.

Walk to the higher plateaus. Beyond Ayder the road continues 10 km to Aşağı Kavrun; Yukarı Kavrun, 3 km further at about 2,300 metres, is the first camp for climbers heading to Kaçkar summit, about 8 km away. Shorter walks lead through forest and meadow to plateaus above the village.

Climb Kaçkar. From Yukarı Kavrun it is about two hours to the camp at Öküzçayırı (Boğaçayırı), around 2,900 metres, and from there a 7–9 hour climb to the summit. The inventory recommends August and September for summer ascents.

Watch for wildlife. The inventory notes that wild goats, lynx, bears and wolves live around the plateau, on the route up to the Kaçkar.

Go down the valley. Zilkale, the stone bridges of the Fırtına and the villages of Çamlıhemşin are an easy half-day from Ayder. See our guide to Zilkale.

Eat muhlama. Cornmeal and stretchy local cheese cooked in butter, served in the pan with corn bread, is the plateau dish to try here, along with fresh trout and honey.

Frequently asked questions about Ayder Plateau

What do the official records say about Ayder Plateau?

It lies 19 km southeast of Çamlıhemşin district. At 1,350 metres, Ayder plateau is the best known of the Black Sea plateaus. With all kinds of infrastructure services completed, the plateau looks like a small town. Besides its rich flora and fauna, it is famous for its hot spring. The spring water, at 50°C, heals rheumatism, women’s diseases and stomach complaints. Around the plateau, which lies on the route of the climb to the Kaçkar Mountains, wild animals such as hook-horned mountain goats, lynx, bears and wolves can be watched in their habitat. Every year the Ayder festivals are held regularly on the plateau. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Rize Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)