Most people come to Altındere valley, in the Maçka district of Trabzon on the eastern Black Sea range, for what stands inside it: the Sümela monastery and the chapel of Saint Barbara are within the national park's bounds. The valley was declared a national park on 9 September 1987 and covers 4,800 hectares. It is narrow-floored and climbs to 2,800 metres, with small waterfalls along it, broken ground, old natural forest and a rich plant and animal life.
The dominant tree is the oriental spruce, and the forest around it is mixed: fir, Scots pine, chestnut, oak, lime, hornbeam, willow, black pine, rhododendron and Caucasian honeysuckle all grow here. The plant list runs to 535 species with 30 subspecies and 9 varieties, in 339 genera and 102 families; six of the species are of least concern, four vulnerable and one near threatened.
Five hoofed mammal species live here and move with the seasons — one of them in Annex II of the Bern Convention and three in Annex III. The park's ecological boundaries are too small for mammals, so it is best treated as part of the wider living space around it. Fifty-two bird species have been recorded, none of them endemic; 45 are protected under the Bern Convention, two are near threatened and two vulnerable. The count owes much to the valley lying on a migration route, to forests that give birds of prey somewhere to roost, and to the park running along a narrow valley. Two trout, Salmo trutta labrax and Salmo trutta macrostigma, live in the Meryemana stream.
Around the monastery, the rural recreation grounds, where forest, valley and stream landscapes dominate, are used heavily, as far as the terrain allows, for walking and trekking, picnicking, camping, climbing, sport fishing, nature study and scientific work. Two viewing terraces are in use along the Sesli Kaya Yolu tour route, and the day-use areas have roofed picnic units, toilets, a prayer room, a car park and information boards; it is possible to stay in the bungalows in the Altındere day-use area. The park's capacity is set at 26,397 visitors and 276 vehicles.
The park is 47 kilometres from Trabzon and is reached by surfaced road. A concrete-paved road goes up to the Sümela monastery, and a branch off it continues as far as the Çakırgöl tourism centre. The rest of the network is mostly unsurfaced: one rough gravel road follows Altındere village and the Taşköprü plateau and then runs west of the Kürtdere plateau towards Gümüşhane; a second, also rough gravel, links the Aksu plateau with Furunoba and Kasapoğlu; and a raw track passes the Seslikaya locality to reach the Aksu plateau. Footpaths join the plateaus to one another, and rough roads connect the park to Yomra and, to the west, to the Torul–Maçka road. The heavy season for visitors runs from the beginning of April to the end of October.
- Designated
- 9.09.1987
Entry fee
- Black Sea group 2 · category 1 · Per person
- 65 ₺
Visiting hours
- Visiting hours
- 07:00 - 23:59
When to go
- Climate
- Across Trabzon as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 7.3 °C in February to 23.5 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in October (113 mm) and lightest in July (37 mm). Long-term means for 1927-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
