How to Visit Saklikent Gorge in Turkey (Türkiye)

One of the most popular day trips from Fethiye and Ölüdeniz is a visit to the impressive Saklikent Gorge. Located in Saklikent National Park, the gorge is the longest and deepest in Turkey (Türkiye). We are massive outdoor lovers, so this day trip was a no-brainer for us. However, whether you want to go on a slightly more challenging but rewarding hike through the gorge, or you’re just here to enjoy this beautiful landscape, it’s a place you won’t regret adding to your itinerary.

In this guide, we’ll tell you how to visit Saklikent Gorge, from the different ways to get there, to useful tips for hiking through the gorge, and other places to visit nearby.

About Saklikent Gorge

The gorge is located in Saklikent National Park within the Mugla – Antalya border region, about 45 km southeast of Fethiye. Saklikent Gorge translates to ‘Hidden Valley’, and it was formed through thousands of years of water abrasion on the rocks. However, it was only discovered by local villagers fairly recently.

The gorge is about 18km long and 300m deep, which makes it the longest and deepest in the country. It’s about 4 or 5 m wide in most places, but there are some sections where it gets so narrow that you wouldn’t be able to extend your arms. The gorge’s walls are pretty sheer too, with the slope reaching 90° in places, which is basically vertical! In addition, Dargaz Stream runs through the middle of the gorge. Since the sun never really reaches the stream, the water stays ice-cold, even on a hot summer day.

The gorge was declared a national park in 1996 because of its natural beauty, geomorphological formation, and diverse flora and fauna.

How to Get to Saklikent Gorge

The closest places to visit Saklikent Gorge from are Fethiye and Ölüdeniz. They are both popular holiday destinations along Türkiye’s Turquoise Coast. There are a few ways you can get to the gorge from there, as follows:

Organised Tour

Probably the easiest way to reach Saklikent Gorge is by taking an organised day trip from Fethiye or Ölüdeniz.

Jeep tours are probably the most popular option. These will often also include a visit to Tlos Ruins and YakaPark. They include lunch, but won’t necessarily include all of the entry fees and additional activities such as tubing.

We’ll detail the pros and cons of visiting the gorge with a tour in the next section.

By Car

If you want to visit the gorge on your own, then you can always hire a car for the day and drive there from Fethiye. You can book your car hire using this company. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the gorge entrance, and there’s parking available there too.

Alternatively, you can also arrange a taxi ride to and from the site. However, this will probably be the most expensive way to get there.

Public Bus

The most affordable way to visit Saklikent Gorge independently is by local bus (dolmus). You can catch a bus from this bus stop in Fethiye. The journey takes about an hour. We were able to find timetable information on this website, with departure times to and from Saklikent here. However, it’s worth checking the timetable at the bus stop and/or asking the driver too.

Organised Tour vs Independent Visit to Saklikent Gorge

Both options have their pros and cons, so it will depend on what you want to get out of the experience. The main pro of the organised tour for us, was that we didn’t need to worry about our transportation, especially because we didn’t have our own vehicle. The tours also include multiple stops, so we were able to see a few of the places we wanted to visit in one day. This is great if you’re short on time. The jeep tours are super fun, especially on a hot day, since they involve an ‘optional’ water-fight with water guns every time you travel between places.

Now, the downside of the jeep tours is that, if you’re not into water-fighting or want to take your camera along with you, then you’ll need to make sure that you have a waterproof bag with you because you will get soaked!

Another negative point for us was that most of the jeep tours only stop briefly at the ancient city of Tlos. So, whilst we thought we could tick it off our to-do list with the tour, we ended up a bit disappointed and could definitely have gone back. Saklikent Gorge is also normally one of the last stops and, based on our experience, you don’t get an awfully long time there to hike too deep into the gorge. Therefore, if you’re here to hike as far as you can through this incredible canyon, then we recommend visiting independently.

Useful to Know Before Visiting Saklikent Gorge

Below are a few things that we think you might want to know before visiting Saklikent Gorge.

Facilities. There are toilets before you enter the gorge. It’s good to have some small change on you for these. There are also restaurants and cafes outside, as well as one inside at the end of the wooden boardwalk.

Opening Times. The gorge is open every day from 9AM until 7:30PM.

Entry Fee. It is 23 TL (around 1 EUR) to enter the gorge. Note that you can’t use your Museum Pass to visit Saklikent Gorge.

What to Wear. We recommend wearing shorts, as you’ll be hiking through the stream and it gets pretty high in places. We just went through barefoot, but you could bring water-shoes and wear them after the boardwalk. On the jeep tour, we definitely suggest wearing a swimsuit under your clothes, as you will get soaked.

What to Bring. We brought a backpack that fit in everything we’d need for the day. We suggest having a dry-bag with you as well, to store anything you don’t want getting wet, like wallets and electronics. Bring a towel, especially if you want to do some other water activities like tubing, or are on a jeep tour where there’ll be water-fighting. We brought enough water and snacks for the day, although you could always stop at one of the restaurants for food and drinks. (Expect the prices to be much higher here!)

Hiking Through Saklikent Gorge

Once we’d paid our entrance fee, we started our hike along a wooden boardwalk built into the canyon wall. It’s a nice and relaxing section of the hike, especially when it’s not too crowded. We enjoyed the turquoise colour of the water, and the instant coolness provided by the shade from the walls.

We reached the end of the walking platform, where the canyon opens up and the river walking part of the hike begins. There’s a cafe here, so you can stop and enjoy the views for a while, or carry on hiking through the gorge. From this point on though, it’s time to either go barefoot or put on some water-shoes.

Safety Note. The water is freezing cold! We got used to the temperatures eventually, but it was a big shock to our bodies at first. Another thing to note is that the currents can be pretty strong at the start, and walking on the rocky riverbed isn’t easy or pleasant. The water level does also get quite high in places. They have a rope you can hold on to for this section, which we highly recommend using.

After that initial river crossing, the hike did get a bit easier, as the water wasn’t too deep and the ground was smoother. It’ll be a bit more muddy though. Our bodies had also acclimatised to the ice-cold water temperatures by then. The gorge gets a bit narrower again from this point, so we could really appreciate the scale of the cliffs towering over us as we stood on the bottom.

There’s a waterfall about 1.7 km from the entrance. This is the furthest point you can simply hike to. If you want to go further, you’d need to climb up on a rope.

See our hiking route map here.

Other Places to Visit Around Saklikent Gorge

Tlos Ruins

Located about 35km southeast of Fethiye, to the north of Saklikent Gorge, Tlos was one of the oldest and largest Lycian settlements. However, thanks to the site’s long history, you’ll also see some ruins from the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman eras.

Some of the most important landmarks within the site are the Necropolis, with its Lycian rock tombs, a 14th century Ottoman castle, a huge stable, a public bath, an agora, and a theater.

Opening Times and Entry Fees. The site is open every day between 8:30AM and 6:30PM. Entry fee is 3 EUR, however you can also use your Türkiye Museum Pass.

YakaPark

We didn’t know anything about this place before our day trip to Saklikent Gorge, but apparently it’s a very popular place to stop at for lunch, normally combined with a visit to Saklikent Gorge and the Tlos Ruins.

YakaPark is a nature park located close to Tlos Ruins. There are a few restaurants built around the waterfalls and pools, where you can relax, have some food, or even swim in a few of the man-made pools. The water comes from the mountains though, so it’s normally ice-cold. The place reminded us of the waterfall village of Argyroupoli​ in Crete, Greece.

Final Thoughts on Visiting Saklikent Gorge in Turkey (Türkiye)

Saklikent Gorge is a truly stunning place, and we have zero regrets about visiting it. We opted for an organised jeep tour, which made sense to us at the time of booking since it was combined with a visit to Tlos Ruins and YakaPark. Whilst we enjoyed the opportunity to hike through the gorge and enjoyed YakaPark, we would’ve loved to spend more time inside the gorge and be able to visit Tlos properly.

If you’re just after a fun day out, that also allows you to see some beautiful places, then you’ll most certainly enjoy joining a tour. However, if you want to spend more time in the gorge, then we suggest visiting independently.

Have you ever been to Saklikent Gorge in Turkey (Türkiye)? If so, how did you visit; independently or with a tour? If not, would you add a visit to the gorge to your itinerary? Let us know in the comments below.