Yozgat Çamlık National Park: Türkiye’s First National Park

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

What is Yozgat Çamlık National Park?

Yozgat Çamlık National Park (Yozgat Çamlığı Milli Parkı) is a pine forest on the hills just south of Yozgat. Declared on 5 February 1958, it was the first national park in Türkiye. It is small, covering 264 hectares, but its importance lies in what it protects: one of the few surviving islands of forest in the Central Anatolian steppe, created largely by human clearing over thousands of years.

The forest is made up of black pine (karaçam), oak and juniper. Some of the pines are between 350 and 500 years old, and some carry tags giving their age. The 2002 inventory described the park as a black pine grove that has survived from the virgin forests of ancient times.

For the people of Yozgat the park is the city’s picnic ground and its nearest forest, busy at weekends in summer. For visitors it is a pleasant half-day: a walk under the pines, a meal, and a view back over the city in its bowl of hills.

How do you get to Yozgat Çamlık National Park?

The park is about 5 km south of Yozgat city centre, a short drive or taxi ride from the centre. Yozgat itself is about 170 km east of Ankara by road, and Yozgat YHT station is on the Ankara–Sivas high-speed railway, opened to passengers in April 2023.

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When is the best time to visit Yozgat Çamlık National Park?

May to October is the main season. Late spring is green and fresh; in July and August the shade of the pines and the altitude make the park noticeably cooler than the plateau around it. Autumn is quiet. In winter the forest is often under snow, which is beautiful for a walk, but facilities may be limited.

What is the history of Yozgat Çamlık National Park?

The hills south of Yozgat kept their forest while much of the surrounding plateau was cleared for farming and grazing. The 2002 inventory calls it one of the few forest islands within the human-made steppe of Central Anatolia, and stresses that besides keeping the natural balance it meets the city’s need for recreation.

The forest was declared a national park on 5 February 1958, the first in the country, and is managed today by the state forestry authorities. It remains a recreation area as well as a protected forest, with a hotel, a campsite, a restaurant, a café and a playground.

What is Yozgat Çamlık National Park famous for?

• Being Türkiye’s first national park, declared in 1958.
• Old black pines, some 350 to 500 years old.
• An island of forest in the open steppe of Central Anatolia.
• Picnics and family days out for Yozgat residents.

What can you do at Yozgat Çamlık National Park?

Walk among the old pines. Paths and forest roads run across the hills; look for the trees tagged with their age.

Picnic. Shaded picnic areas are the park’s main use, and they fill with families at weekends.

Camp or stay. The inventory notes that day trips, and camping with tents and caravans, are possible in the park, and there is also a hotel.

Combine it with history. The inventory points out that the Hittite capital at Boğazköy (Hattusa), Alacahöyük and the Sarıkaya hot springs are the other important sights around the park. Kerkenes and the Çapanoğlu Mosque in the city centre are also close.

Look for wildlife. The inventory mentions wild boar in the park, and partridge, quail and fox in the surrounding countryside.

See Yozgat’s other old trees. The inventory also records the Ulu Kavak, a poplar in Yozgat registered as a natural monument in 1994, then about 200 years old, 20 m tall and 8 m around the trunk.

Frequently asked questions about Yozgat Çamlık National Park

What do the official records say about Yozgat Çamlık National Park?

The National Park, which lies on the hills stretching to the south of Yozgat province, is 5 km from Yozgat. Covering an area of 264 hectares, it is one of the few forest islands within the steppe created by human impact in Central Anatolia. The morphology of the land, with an average elevation of 1,350 m, is formed by hills and by undulating plains broken up by ridges and valleys.

This black pine grove has survived to the present day from the virgin forests of ancient times. Black pine, oak and juniper communities make up the vegetation of the National Park. Besides helping to keep the natural balance, the fact that this piece of forest meets the need for recreation is of great importance. It is possible to organise day trips in the National Park, or to stay with a tent or caravan. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Yozgat Provincial Tourism Inventory, 2002)