Guide
Hatila Valley National Park lies within the central district of Artvin and takes in the Hatila stream and a great many of its side streams. It is reached from the centre of Artvin by ten kilometres of unsurfaced road.
Various kinds of rock are seen along the valley, almost all of them the product of deep volcanism. The valley is a young one, V-shaped with a narrow floor. Breaks in gradient caused by the differences in rock have produced waterfalls along the stream.
Because the valley floor has been cut down faster than the valley has widened, the sides run at gradients of eighty per cent and in places a hundred. Physical break-up and mass movement, along with the work of side streams and landslides, have left a harsh topography, and in the middle reaches this has produced canyons and gorges.
The plant cover in the middle and upper parts of the valley is rich and dense, holding a wide range of species. What stands out is that the vegetation generally reflects a Mediterranean climate, so that the cover here is a relict one. There are endemic species among the plants as well, and the source puts the number of these species at more than five hundred.
The valley also holds a rich fauna. The animals most often met with are bear, wild boar, fox, badger, wild goat, marten, sparrowhawk, eagle, jackal, black grouse, the Hopa viper and trout.
Between its geology and landforms and its distinctive plant communities, Hatila is a place of a kind rarely met with in Türkiye, and the combination gives it landscape of unusual beauty and a good deal of scope for outdoor recreation.
Within the park there are places set aside for day visits and for camping. Visitors can stay in tents, in caravans or in bungalow-type facilities of limited capacity built to suit their natural surroundings, and since the park is only ten kilometres from Artvin it is also possible to stay in the town.
Bark beetles, whose numbers have risen in recent years, are causing many trees to die.
- Designated
- 31.08.1994
Entry fee
- Black Sea group 1 · category 1 · Per person
- 75 ₺
