Şahin Tepesi Tabiat Parkı covers 90.7 hectares in the Erzin district of Hatay, declared on 15 May 2018, with Osmaniye to its north, Adana to its west and Dörtyol to its south-east.
Its assets are geological and scenic: underground water sources, sedimentary rock and travertine formations, with forest and water landscapes running into one another. The Directorate notes that the naturally growing conifers and shrubs colour differently through the four seasons.
Black pine and Syrian juniper grow here with Calabrian pine, and among the other plants recorded are laurel-leaved rockrose, gypsophila, sheep's sorrel, hawthorn, kermes oak, terebinth, green olive tree, strawberry tree, thorny burnet, spiny broom, sea squill, asphodel and groundsel.
The park is laid out for walking, cycling, tour routes, viewpoints, entrance control points, day-use areas and a camping ground with country cottages — though the cottages themselves are not yet finished. Stated capacity is 100 visitors and 100 vehicles. It is 111 kilometres from Antakya, approached from the Adana–Hatay and Erzin–İskenderun roads, and a private vehicle is needed.
- Designated
- 15.05.2018
When to go
- Climate
- Across Hatay as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 8.1 °C in January to 27.9 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in April, May, June and October; rainfall is heaviest in January (197 mm) and lightest in July (16 mm). Long-term means for 1940-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
