Guide
The Küre Mountains trail crosses Küre Dağları National Park, a protected area of 370 square kilometres shared between Kastamonu and Bartın provinces. Its untouched country holds endemic plants and wildlife, a microclimate of its own, unusual landforms, deep valleys and gorges, fast rivers and waterfalls, along with the culture of its villages. The park met every one of WWF's criteria for protected sites, and WWF listed it among a hundred places in need of urgent protection and as one of nine hotspots in Türkiye.
The park directorate marked the route as part of an ecotourism project completed in 2010. The main route is 482 km long with 36 marked trails; with the alternatives the network reaches 762 km, and mountain bike routes add up to 828 km. Walks range from short outings and day trips to harder hikes, the longest needing a week on foot with nights spent camping. Keen walkers can join it to the Yenice Forest trails on one side and continue onto the İstiklal Route (Independence Trail), a 500 km path that takes a month.
May to November is the trekking season; in winter the area lies under snow.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Kastamonu as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from -0.9 °C in January to 20.2 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in June, July, August and September; rainfall is heaviest in May (75 mm) and lightest in February (27 mm). Long-term means for 1930-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
