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Located in the Tuzluca district of Igdir, a province in Türkiye's far eastern corner near the Armenian border, the Gokkusagi Tepeleri, or “Rainbow Hills,” stretch across thousands of donums of terrain.
Through the summer season, the layered red, brown, gray and yellow slopes continue to draw a steady stream of domestic and international visitors.
Visitors reach the Gokkusagi Tepeleri after traveling west from central Tuzluca into open countryside, where the landscape gradually shifts from flat farmland to rolling, banded earth.
The unmarked terrain offers little warning of what lies ahead, and the hills' colors resolve into full view only as travelers draw closer, giving first-time arrivals a sense of stepping into unfamiliar ground.
The formation draws photographers seeking its unusual palette alongside academics and cultural delegations visiting Igdir for organized programs.
Among the limited groups who travel here are researchers and journalists from other Turkish provinces, who often combine the visit with broader cultural itineraries rather than treating it as a standalone destination.
Layers of red, brown, gray and yellow soil run across the hillsides in uneven bands, the result of mineral deposits exposed over time. The coloring shifts depending on the angle of sunlight, giving the same slope a different appearance from morning to afternoon.
Up close, the soil separates easily into loose grains rather than holding together as packed earth, a texture visitors describe as unlike anything they encountered elsewhere.
Doc. Dr. Asli Koseoglu of Ataturk University's Faculty of Communication said touching the surface caused it to crumble grain by grain, calling the structure unlike anything she had seen before.
Koseoglu, who visited during a cultural program organized in the city, said reaching the summit and looking out over the hills was worthwhile despite a difficult climb.
She described the descent as leaving visitors "a bit worn out," though she added she remained glad to have made the trip.
Halil Azizoglu, head of the Sirnak Journalists Association and vice president of the Southeastern Journalists Federation, said his group traveled to the hills, located near Igdir's border with Armenia, after a steep and tiring climb.
He said the effort was worth it, adding that visiting after rainfall shows the slopes in richer, more vivid color.
According to visitors interviewed at the site, Türkiye is home to three locations with comparable formations, while only six exist worldwide.
The scarcity of similar sites elsewhere adds to the hills' appeal among visitors seeking a formation they describe as difficult to find elsewhere.
Local accounts describe the Gokkusagi Tepeleri as a site worth visiting despite the physical effort required to reach its higher points.
As word of the formation's rarity spreads through visitor testimonials and photography, the hills continue to draw a mix of tourists, researchers and cultural travelers to this stretch of Igdir each summer.
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