On the skirts of Çam Dağı, at Bayraktepe in the Hendek district, the Selmandede recreation area is one of the quietest places in Sakarya, kept for picnics, walking and open-air sport. The tomb of Selman Dede is inside the mosque that stands in the grounds.
The ministry transferred the ground to the municipality of Hendek, which laid it out for public use. It hosts events and festivals from time to time, among them wrestling. Within the grounds are a kiosk, picnic tables, volleyball and basketball courts, a football pitch, a sports area, an enclosure for pheasants and ostriches, drinking water and lavatories.
You can walk here or ride a bicycle. The cover is wooded, and in autumn, as the trees drop their leaves, the views are at their best. Among the animals living on the site are jackals, foxes, weasels, hares, squirrels, hedgehogs, wild boar, moles, field mice, tortoises, salamanders, fire salamanders and green lizards.
The site is 44 kilometres from the city centre and city transport reaches it. The road is asphalt, the site can be reached in any season, and there is no charge for entry.
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).
Getting there
- Access
- Forty-four kilometres from the city centre; city transport reaches it.
