Hamsilos Nature Park: Sinop’s Fjord-Like Inlet

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

What is Hamsilos Nature Park?

Hamsilos is a small, deep inlet on the coast west of Sinop, where the sea runs into the land like a river between forested slopes. The inventory calls Hamsilos and its surroundings, with their green forest and the bay where the sea enters the land like a river, a wonder of nature, and a resting place of extraordinary beauty, adorned with flowers and trees.

The inlet is only a few hundred metres long. Its mouth is wide and open to the sea, but it narrows and becomes more wooded inland, and from above its outline is often compared to an elephant’s head. Old sources call it Hamsaroz. It is one of the most photographed places on the Black Sea coast, and popularly known as “Türkiye’s only fjord”.

The area is protected as a nature park, with walking paths through the forest, picnic areas and camping nearby at Akliman.

How do you get to Hamsilos Nature Park?

Hamsilos is about 11 km west of Sinop city centre, next to the Akliman beach area, which is 9 km from the centre. By car or taxi it takes about 15 minutes; follow the coast road west from the city past Akliman.

Sinop Airport is on the same side of the city, so Hamsilos is easy to reach on arrival or before a departing flight.

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When is the best time to visit Hamsilos Nature Park?

June to September is the season for swimming and camping, with July and August the busiest. Late spring and early autumn are better for walking the forest trails in peace, and the light on the inlet is softest early in the morning and in the evening. On a calm day the water is still and clear; when the northerly winds blow, the sea outside the inlet can be rough, which is exactly why fishermen have used it as a shelter.

What is the history of Hamsilos Nature Park?

The inventory notes that Akliman and Hamsaroz Bay, northwest of the city, were shelters in ancient times. Fishermen still use the inlet to wait out storms, and local tradition says pirates once hid here.

The Akliman–Hamsilos area was declared a first-degree natural site by the Ministry of Culture, by Council of Ministers decisions published in the Official Gazette on 9 April 1987 and 19 April 1989. It is now listed among Sinop’s nature parks.

The inventory explains how the inlet formed. Because the glacial erosion needed to form a fjord did not occur in this region during the Quaternary, Hamsilos is instead a sea inlet of 300–400 metres at the mouth of a small stream called the Deveci Deresi. Morphological evidence shows it was formed when the lower part of the Deveci valley was submerged after subsidence on land: a “ria” type coast. The inventory says Akliman bay formed the same way.

What is Hamsilos Nature Park famous for?

• The shape. A long, narrow arm of sea between wooded banks, unlike anything else on the Turkish coast.
• Forest meeting sea. Trees grow down to the water’s edge, and many lean inland, shaped by the prevailing wind.
• Camping. It is one of the most popular camping and nature spots on the Sinop coast.

What can you do at Hamsilos Nature Park?

Walk the forest paths. Trails follow the slopes above the inlet and lead to viewpoints over the inlet and the open sea. The inventory notes that the forest areas of Akliman, Hamsilos, Abalı and Sarıkum have walking routes suitable for hiking and horse riding.

Swim. The inlet’s sheltered water is calm on most summer days. Akliman’s long sandy beach, which the inventory describes as stretching for kilometres in a band 15–20 m wide, is next door.

Camp or picnic. Tents and caravans are allowed in the Akliman picnic areas, and there are forest campsites nearby.

Combine with Sarıkum and İnceburun. Sarıkum Nature Reserve is a few kilometres further west, and the lighthouse at İnceburun, Anatolia’s northernmost point, is also on this side of the city.

Common misconceptions about Hamsilos Nature Park

Is Hamsilos a fjord?

What people often assume: Hamsilos is widely described as “Türkiye’s only fjord” and as formed by glacial erosion (example).

What the record says: The Ministry’s 2002 provincial inventory states that the glacial erosion needed to form a fjord did not take place here in the Quaternary, and that Hamsilos is a ria: the drowned lower valley of the Deveci Deresi stream. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sinop Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)

Frequently asked questions about Hamsilos Nature Park

What do the official records say about Hamsilos Nature Park?

With its lush green forest and the bay where the sea enters the land like a river, Hamsilos and its surroundings are a wonder of nature. The Akliman–Hamsilos area, 11 km from the city centre, has been declared a first-degree natural site by the Ministry of Culture.

Hamsilos Bay is a resting place of extraordinary beauty, adorned with flowers and trees. Because the glacial erosion needed to form it did not occur in this region in the Fourth Geological Era, Hamsilos Bay is a sea inlet of 300–400 m at the mouth of a small stream called the Deveci Deresi. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Sinop Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)