Çubuk Karagöl was declared a nature park on 11 July 2011 at 11 hectares, and a boundary change later raised it to 114. It lies 68 kilometres from Ankara and 28 from Çubuk.
The lake and the forest around it are what the park protects. Recorded here are 187 plant species from 46 families, eleven of them endemic, together with four amphibians, six reptiles, 13 mammals and 41 birds, across nine different EUNIS habitat classes. It has capacity for 576 visitors, 150 vehicles and 50 tents.
Small as the park is, it is varied, and the reason given is the lake itself: Karagöl creates a microclimate, and the range of habitat and species follows from it. Floristic survey identified 187 taxa from 46 families, eleven of them endemic to Türkiye, an endemism rate of 5.8 per cent. The endemics named are the shrub vetchling Lathyrus chezottianus, the Anatolian sainfoin Onobrychis armena, the yellow hawthorn Crataegus tanacetifolia, Cicerbita variabilis, the bellflower Campanula argaea, Sideritis germanicopolitana, Phlomis armeniaca and the Ankara crocus Crocus ancyrensis. Beside them grow Scots pine, Anatolian black pine, hoary cress, mahaleb cherry, honeysuckle, hazel, hornbeam, aspen and white willow.
The animals observed here run from several kinds of frog, tortoise, a mild-tempered snake, a half-aquatic snake and the horned viper to the large green lizard, hedgehog, blind mole, wild hare, European squirrel, wood mouse and dwarf hamster. The birds listed include long-legged buzzard, kestrel, collared dove, wheatear, blackbird, coot, starling and bee-eater, and the larger mammals recorded are fox, wolf, badger, bear and wild boar.
There are toilets, a country casino, open-air event grounds and a children's playground, and the day-use areas are laid out for picnicking. The park joins the national road network by the Ankara-Çubuk road, the D180; the road that leaves the centre of Çubuk and runs northwest reaches it after 28 kilometres, and the nearest airport, Ankara Esenboğa, is 52 kilometres off. Picnicking, walking, hill climbing, watching flora and fauna and simply looking out are the uses the Directorate General of Nature Conservation and National Parks says can be made of the park under control — and it records that in practice the ground is used heavily for picnics, especially at weekends.
- Designated
- 11.07.2011
Entry fee
- Marmara group 3 · category 2 · Per person
- 50 ₺
Visiting hours
- Visiting hours
- 07:00 - 21:00
When to go
- Climate
- Across Ankara as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 0.4 °C in January to 23.6 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in May (52 mm) and lightest in August (13 mm). Long-term means for 1927-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
