Saklikent
not verifiedpermit unconfirmed 2026-08-20
ACA 4C R
Extreme flood risk
Kas, Antalya
Limestone aven well above the photogenic public lower gorge near Kas, sustained 2280 foot descent that ropewiki rates 4C1 IV.
Two things to keep straight: the public Saklikent Lower Gorge near the park entrance is the tourist boardwalk and is not what this entry describes. The technical descent starts much higher in the watershed and is committing alpine-scale work. Beta is split between descente-canyon.com (French) and canyon.carto.net (German); read both. The lower tourist gorge has killed walkers in flash floods, treat the upper drainage forecast accordingly.
Logistics
| Manager | Saklikent National Park (Saklikent Milli Parki) |
|---|---|
| Permit | The lower gorge at the canyon mouth is a ticketed national park tourist site with a paid entry fee and set opening hours, run by Turkey's national parks authority. No source was found, agency or otherwise, addressing whether the technical descent above it requires separate permission. Treat the entry fee as certain and the descent's permit status as unestablished, and ask at the gate. No fee figure is recorded here because the only sources located were tourism blogs quoting amounts that ranged from 13 to 65 lira across different years. |
| Distance | ~1.4 (descent only) |
| Elevation | ~2280 ft loss |
| Time | Multi-day commitment commonly run as a long single push or a 2-day bivouac descent |
| Technical | Major limestone canyon above the well-known public lower gorge. Ropewiki rates 4C1 IV (v4a4 VI), longest rappel about 148 ft. Swift water hazard, big sustained vertical work in a deep limestone slot. Wetsuit mandatory, water is cold mountain runoff from the Taurus Range. |
| Season | Summer and autumn |
| Flood risk | Extreme. The canyon's lower gorge tourist trail closes annually after fatal flash floods. Watch the entire Karacay watershed forecast; the slot fills in minutes. |
| Vehicle access | 2WD to trailhead, 22 km shuttle required |
| Crowd | Low on the technical descent above the tourist gorge |
| Coordinates | 36.4405, 29.4471 |
Sources
- beta de: https://www.canyon.carto.net
- beta fr: https://www.descente-canyon.com
- ropewiki: https://ropewiki.com/Saklikent