Ilgaz Dağı
Kayak ve Dinlenme Merkezi

"Ilgaz, a great mountain in Anatolia".

Ilgaz, a great mountain in Anatolia. Your misty peak reaches to the sky..." It was in that popular children's song that we first heard of Ilgaz, and would try to envisage a towering, snow covered mountain. The magnificent Ilgaz of our imaginations sent a thrill through us as we sang, and the mountain would call us in turn.

Would the reality be a disappointment after so many years of living with that picture painted by a child's imagination? But no. The first time Ilgaz came into sight its snowy summit was wreathed in cloud, which enhanced the impression of extraordinary height.

Ilgaz is an unspoilt delight in every season. You can get your first taste of winter walking across its unblemished snowy slopes, smell the first flower which opens in spring, find shade from the blazing sun beneath its pine trees, and savour the brilliant colours of autumn. Mount Ilgaz is 165 km north of Ankara and 400 km east of Istanbul, not far to discover nature at its most perfect and untouched, where those escaping the stresses of city life can ski, walk and just admire the scenery.

Mount Ilgaz is now a national park and subject to strict conservation regulations. Set on the boundary between Turkey's dry central plateau and wet Black Sea region, this sprawling mountain is thickly forested with black pine and Scots pine. When the clouds which appear from nowhere to wrap themselves around the mountain's heights disperse you can catch a momentary glimpse of the twin peaks of Ilgaz, known as the Büyük Hacet (2587 m) and Küçük Hacet (2548 m). Instead of remaining an observer of this disappearing act and nature's untiring movement, try joining in yourself. The skiing season at Ilgaz lasts from 1 December to 30 March. There are three natural ski slopes, for which not a single tree was felled. As well as the main 1000 metre run there are two other superb runs of 750 metres and 1500 metres respectively, all served by a 1000 metre ski lift and 750 metre baby lift. The powdery snow here is excellent skiing material, which combined with a fairly long winter sports season is rapidly taking Ilgaz out of the realm of imagination and onto the holiday map.

If skiing is not for you, Ilgaz offers long walks under the snow laden pine boughs or romantic trips by horse-drawn sleigh through the woods. When you pause to take breath on the slopes overlooking the deep valleys, do not forget to send a greeting to the snow covered peaks high above.

Accommodation at the ski resort consists of Ilgaz Doruk Hotel and three guest houses belonging to public sector institutions. After a day out in the pure oxygen filled air, where the profound winter silence of nature is broken only by the crunching sound of your own footsteps or the sighing of the wind through the tree branches, you can spend the evening around a blazing log fire just relaxing or chatting with friends. Then amidst the flames you can faintly hear children's voices, high pitched and slightly out of tune, singing out of the cold winter night, "Ilgaz, a great mountain in Anatolia".

Highlights: The Northern Anatolian fault line, which is the longest and most active in Turkey, passes through the southern foot of Ilgaz Mountain. The dominant species of flora are the black pine, Scotch pine and fir tree, and cover almost all of the mountain. The high annual rainfall, plus the large amount of plant cover, has made this an area with much wildlife, including roe deer, wild boar, wolves, bears and foxes. There is also the possibility of skiing here in the winter, and has the nearest facilities to Ankara.