Kaf Dağı

Good to know

• Hiking area
• 10 kmfrom Altındağ center
• 4.0 / 54 reviews
• Altındağ

What Makes Kaf Dağı Interesting

The hill's playful name — Kaf Dağı, literally "Kaf Mountain" — references the legendary peak of Middle Eastern mythology believed to ring the known world. In practice, this small rise inside the Çubuk-1 Dam recreation area carries that epic label with good humour: the summit is the highest point of the park, crowned by a 4.3-metre Atatürk statue installed by Ankara Metropolitan Municipality's art workshop as a symbol of the Republic's early struggle.↗↗

The location sits beside Turkey's first concrete dam of the Republican era, built between 1930 and 1936 and personally opened by Atatürk on 3 November 1936. That historic backdrop — the old dam wall, the restored Atatürk House he used during visits, and the broad meadow where water once pooled — gives a walk up Kaf Dağı a layer of modern Turkish history underfoot.↗↗

Since its 2020 restoration, the surrounding park has been landscaped with roughly 1,250 trees, 75,000 shrubs, 15,000 flowers and 3,000 climbing plants, making the hill's slopes and the paths below them noticeably greener than the surrounding Anatolian steppe.↗

Walking and Seeing

Kaf Dağı works best as part of a visit to the wider recreation area. The park's 736-metre marked nature walk hugs the waterside terrain and links up to the hill's gentle slopes, while view terraces near the top look out across the drained reservoir basin toward Ankara's northern rooftops. The hike is short and easy — suitable for families, casual walkers, and anyone wanting a 30-minute green break from the city.↗↗

One reviewer captured the appeal simply: "a place of perfect beauty, a wonder of nature." The view at golden hour, when the old concrete dam wall catches warm light against the open grassland, is a quiet highlight for photographers.↗

Beyond the Hill: The Çubuk-1 Recreation Area

Kaf Dağı is embedded in a 413,000 m² municipal park designed for full-day family outings. Below the hill you'll find 254 picnic tables spread over 219,000 m² of smoking and no-smoking picnic zones, a 520-metre bicycle path, sports fields, children's playgrounds with climbing walls, ornamental ponds, the Teras Kafe overlooking the dam, and the restored Atatürk House museum — all free to enter.↗↗

The entrance gate itself is artistically constructed from reclaimed timber, and scattered throughout the park are decorative features made from waste wood by ANFA's tree workshop — a small touch of craft that sets the tone before you even start climbing.↗

Getting There and Visiting

From central Ankara, head 12 km north along the Altındağ–Çubuk road. EGO municipal buses serve the area, and a 619-car park inside the recreation ground absorbs weekend traffic. Opening hours are roughly 07:00–22:00, and admission is free.↗

Spring and autumn bring the most comfortable conditions for walking the hill and surrounding trails; summer afternoons can be hot and exposed, so an early morning start is advisable. Between approximately 1 June and 1 November, open-flame barbecues are prohibited across the park due to provincial wildfire risk — plan cold picnics or use the on-site cafés during that period.↗

Nearby Trekking

If Kaf Dağı whets your appetite for more hiking in this corner of Ankara, the Çubuk district to the north offers an extensive network of official trekking routes catalogued by the provincial governor's office: loops of 5 to 15 km around Ay Kayası, forest tracks to the Karagöl crater lake, plateau walks past historic yayla (summer pasture) villages, and the route to the Hacılar waterfall. Most trailheads are a 30–60-minute drive further north from the dam.↗↗

The area sits on the southern foothills of the Köroğlu Mountains, where pine, oak and beech forest gives way to wide steppe — a gentle transition landscape ideal for day hikes without long transfers.↗