Things to do
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Kaçkar Mountains National Park
Glaciated mountains rise behind the village to Kaçkar Dağı at 3,937 metres, with plateaus near three thousand metres, alpine meadows and dozens of glacial lakes. The range became a national park in 1994 and draws hikers, campers and mountaineers, with heliskiing a growing sideline. Wolves and bears share the range with boars and wild goats.
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Palovit Waterfall
One of the highest-flow waterfalls in Rize province, dropping fifteen metres from the Palovit stream within the Kaçkar Mountains National Park in the Çamlıhemşin district. The Palovit plateau lies upstream, and the sheer volume of water, more than its height, is what makes the fall worth the detour.
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Pokut Plateau
A pasture of wooden highland houses at 2,032 metres, on the ridge between the Fırtına and Hala valleys south of Çamlıhemşin. It lies about fifteen kilometres from Çamlıhemşin, a drive of an hour and a half to two hours up a rough track, and its misty weather and old houses are the draw, with the sea of cloud photographed from its edge.
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Ayder Waterfall
A fall of twenty-eight metres at the head of the village, spilling six metres wide into a plunge pool about two metres deep and facing northeast. It flows in every season and sits beside the road, some twenty-two kilometres from the Çamlıhemşin district centre. A viewing platform at its foot makes it the easiest of the valley's falls to reach.
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Gelintülü Waterfall
Its name likens the water to a bride's veil, and the fall drops fifteen metres from the Kavrun stream at about 1,320 metres on the slope above Ayder. It is visible from the village and reached on a short path, which makes it the fall photographed most often from the meadow below.
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Huser Plateau
Around fifty houses stand on this high meadow at 2,328 metres, twelve kilometres from Çamlıhemşin and above Ayder. Most visitors come on day tours to watch the sea of cloud fill the valleys below, and demand for walking and nature trips has turned it into a draw in a short time.
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Zil Kale
A medieval castle on a cliff edge at 1,130 metres in the Fırtına valley, with the river running some 380 metres below. Outer and middle walls ring the inner castle, which holds garrison quarters, a head tower and what may be a chapel. The name is read as Bell Castle, and the site ranks among the chief monuments of Çamlıhemşin district.
