Karagöl Yaylası lies within the Taraklı district of Sakarya and is one of the larger highland pastures of the province, covering 567 hectares at a height of a little over 1,100 metres. Dense forest of fir, beech and pine rings it.
The pasture is a karstic depression and floods in spring; the water then drains underground through sinkholes. There is a charge to enter. Camping is allowed, and fishing in the pond is free. There are springs and a toilet on the site, and the Sakarya metropolitan municipality holds regular nature walks in spring and autumn.
Villagers from Mahdumlar, Esenyurt, Kemaller, Avdan, Dışdedeler, Tuzla, Uğurlu and İçdedeler come up to the pasture with the spring, and a market is held on Fridays. There are indistinct remains reaching back to Roman times in the village of Kemaller and around the pasture.
Getting there
The pasture is ninety-nine kilometres from central Sakarya and twenty-two from Taraklı, six of them unsurfaced, and any vehicle can make the climb. The nearest settlement is the village of Uğurlu, six kilometres away. The route runs through Taraklı and the villages of Mahdumlar and Kemaller.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Sakarya as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 6.3 °C in January to 23.6 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in December (106 mm) and lightest in August (48 mm). Long-term means for 1951-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
