Ilgaz National Park

Ilgaz National Park (Turkish: Ilgaz Milli Parkı) is in Western Karadeniz of Turkey. Ilgaz is a ski resort, perfect for day trips from Ankara.

Understand
The national park is centred on the Ilgaz mountain range, which sits right on the geographical and ecological border between the gently rolling Black Sea Region to north and the windswept hills of Central Anatolia to south. Its immensely verdant spruce forests are easily distinguishable no matter which direction you are approaching from, but they are in an especially stark contrast with the dusty plains and hills to south—if you were just passing through, you could swear you saw that solid line which divides what is called as "the sea of trees" in Turkish (ağaç denizi) above from the eternal steppes below.

History
Ilgaz was Olgassys to the ancient Greeks, who knew it as a soaring and unscalable mountain.

The national park was established in 1976.

Landscape
The highest point of the Ilgaz Mountains is Hacettepe, above sea level.

Climate
Ilgaz has an alpine climate, with mild summers and very cold winters. The snow stays for more than one half-year on colder years.

Get in
Ilgaz lies on the highway D765, which connects Kastamonu and its airport in the north (about 20 min driving) with Çankırı (about 45 min driving) and Ankara (200 km, 2½ hrs of driving) in the south (see the "get in" section of Kastamonu article for more details on driving in from Ankara). The main entrance to the national park (easily recognizable by its large wooden sign over the road) is right by this highway, near the 1850-metre mountain pass, which is the highest elevation D765 gets. Unique in the Turkish highway system, the road surface around the pass is covered by cobblestones rather than the usual asphalt to assist the vehicles in icy conditions—which can endure well into April, by the way.

There is also an unremarkable town named Ilgaz on the southern foothills of the mountain, a few kilometres off the highway, but it is almost entirely unrelated to the park apart from being close-by and sharing the same name, so don't get confused and head there (as elsewhere in Turkey, the road signs showing the road for Ilgaz the mountain and the park should be brown, while those pointing to Ilgaz the town should be blue).

See
Postcard-perfect vistas of deep valleys dressed with emerald forests are the main sight around here. In winter, the scenery is almost Nordic—black silhouettes of spruces towering against snow white ground.

Do

 * Skiing. Teleskis are available.

Eat
A restaurant offering Turkish pizza (pide) on the menu does exist within the park.

Sleep
There are hotels and rustic resorts offering bungalows in the park.