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Saklıkent National Park (Saklıkent Milli Parkı) encompasses the Saklıkent Gorge, which is one of the deepest in the world. It’s located a little under an hour from Fethiye, Turkey.
Features of Saklıkent Gorge
Saklıkent Gorge reaches 300 meters (980 feet) deep and is 18 kilometers (11 miles) long. Visitors can enter during the summer months when the water level is lower. An out and back hike four kilometers long ends with a waterfall and is suitable for anyone, while longer hikes requiring some climbing and rappelling must be done with a licensed guide. Saklıkent National Park was established on June 6, 1996, and Saklıkent translates to “hidden city”.
Tour from Marmaris
We visited Saklıkent National Park on a day trip from Marmaris. We used Mares Travel and booked the Marmaris Fethiye Tour, which costs 1100₺ for adults and 550₺ for children age 7 to 12 (as of February 2024). Entrance to the park itself is 23₺ (as of February 2024). The trip included all transportation, guide services, lunch, and a stop at Ölüdeniz, which is covered in another entry.
Lunch
After arriving from Ölüdeniz, we stopped for lunch at one of the touristy restaurants near the entrance to the gorge. It was a simple lunch of grilled chicken, a salad, and fries. Our restaurant wasn’t nearly as nice as the one in the pictures below.
Entering the Gorge
Once everyone finished lunch, the guide walked us to the entrance of the gorge. Someone inside the entrance was offering helmets for rent, but they were unnecessary.
From there, we walked down a path attached to the walls and directly above the river. There were some very nice views into the mouth of the gorge from the path.
Our Time at Saklıkent Gorge
At the end of the path is a shady area with a café and picnic tables. It sits right next to the river with a small cascade on the other side of the gorge. Many visitors were taking advantage of the boulders to pose for photos and dip their feet in the ice cold water.
Unfortunately, although it was sunny and there wasn’t a cloud in sight, we weren’t able to hike through the gorge. The gruff security guards claimed it was for “safety reasons due to dangerous weather”. They were also yelling at me for taking off my shoes and dipping my toes in an inch of water while locals were almost waist deep in the middle of the river.
Is it Worth the Trip?
Despite all the inconveniences and rude personnel, I think it’s worth visiting Saklıkent National Park. I feel it’s necessary for me to come back and hike the gorge to experience it properly. I’ll make sure I give myself plenty of time and try to visit during the middle of the summer when it’s definitely hot and dry and there’s a better chance to hike.
Now, the million dollar question: is Saklıkent National Park worth a day trip from Marmaris? Absolutely not. Unfortunately, instead of telling the truth, the tour operator told us at booking that it was only a two-hour ride from Marmaris and it ended up taking three hours. It was also a supposed 30 minutes from Ölüdeniz to Saklıkent and it took over an hour. They told us it would be 4 ½ hours of driving but it was over 7 hours on a bus in total! My advice is to visit Saklıkent from Fethiye so you don’t have to waste your time sitting on a bus all day.
Finally, we were promised a couple hours of free time to hike through the gorge, but instead we had about 30 minutes to sit inside the entrance. The other problem is that nobody was allowed to enter the gorge and this was not posted at the entrance. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as much of a letdown if we had been warned ahead of time. But also, maybe they wouldn’t have rented out so many helmets to tourists.
There were also some issues at Ölüdeniz which I’ll outline in that entry. Anyway, we felt rushed at both Saklıkent and Ölüdeniz.
