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Aladaglar, a mountain range spanning Nigde, Kayseri and Adana provinces in southern Türkiye, offers a four-season destination for climbers and hikers with its steep peaks, glacial lakes and valleys.
The range has more than 50 peaks above 3,000 meters, placing it among Türkiye's leading centers for mountaineering and nature tourism.
Routes across the region support technical rock climbing, trekking, camping, mountain biking and paragliding, drawing domestic and international visitors throughout the year.
Aladaglar hosts training programs run by the Turkish Mountaineering Federation and multiple climbing clubs and is known among mountaineers as a school for the sport.
Yusuf Biltekin, the Nigde representative of the Turkish Mountaineering Federation, said Aladaglar is a major tourism center, with most of the range located within Nigde province.
Biltekin said the area hosts a wide range of activities, including short wall climbing, trekking and camping trips, day hikes, summit climbs, cycling, mountain biking, horseback riding and paragliding.
He said the range's more than 50 peaks above 3,000 meters vary in difficulty, with some reachable by standard hiking routes and others, including Buyuk Demirkazik, Kizilkaya, Kaldi, Vayvay Torasan and Sulagankaya, requiring roped, technical climbs.
Biltekin said glacial melt in spring and summer raises water levels in lakes near the summits. He said the Yedigoller Plateau, located above 3,000 meters, forms close to 40 lakes during this period, with the lakes lasting longer in years with higher rainfall.
He said the plateau and surrounding lakes are among the features that draw foreign visitors to the range, alongside cross-country routes known as Trans Toros, which run from Nigde to the Kapuzbasi Waterfalls or from Demirkazik village to the Badem Bogazi gorge. Climbers scale multiple peaks in the region while completing these routes, he said.
Cavit Unlu, who has climbed for about 15 years and reached roughly 30 of the range's 50 peaks above 3,000 meters, said Aladaglar differs from single-massif mountains such as Erciyes or Mount Agri, also known as Ararat.
Unlu said Aladaglar consists of adjoining peaks that are close enough to allow climbers to summit several within a single week, adding that the range offers overnight lodging, camping areas and guide services for domestic and international tourists.
Elif Su Oren, who recently began mountaineering, said she completed her first climbs of the Ezinevit and Karasay peaks during the Aladaglar Festival, held from July 31 to Aug. 2. She said she returned to the range to see Karagol, a lake in the area, and described Aladaglar as one of Türkiye's most striking mountains.
Mustafa Kemal Unaldi, a third-year physical education student at Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, said he has visited Aladaglar multiple times since taking up mountaineering during his university studies. He described the range as a training ground that tests endurance and helps climbers understand their own limits.
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