Saklıkent Gorge, the Canyon You Wade Into

The cold reaches you first. A few steps past the gate the air drops, and it keeps dropping as the cliffs close in overhead. Under the road bridge the turnstiles open onto a wooden walkway bolted to the rock, and below it the river runs fast, pale blue and loud.

Saklıkent means "hidden city", and from the car park you can believe it. The canyon is about 18 km long and its walls reach 300 m in places. Visitors see a small part of it.

Planks, then water

The walkway runs for about 200 m along the western wall, and a new structure replaced the old one in 2024. It takes a few minutes to cross. Where it ends, springs break out at the foot of the cliff and the walk becomes a wade.

The water is ankle to knee deep depending on the river, and cold enough to make you laugh. The stones are round and slick, the current leans on your shins, and in the narrow sections the sun does not reach the floor. Mind the current after the first bend. The shops at the gate sell and rent water shoes, so a pair of sandals is no reason to stop.

Go as far as the water allows. Only a short part of the 18 km is open to ordinary walkers. The rest is canyoning, with ropes and guides.

Keep a dry bag for the phone and leave anything you cannot afford to lose in the car. The river is loud enough in the narrow sections that conversation turns into pointing, and the light through the gap overhead changes the colour of the water as you go. Most people turn back where the canyon narrows and the cold starts to bite, which is a sensible place to stop.

Lunch with your feet in the river

Just inside the entrance, restaurants have built low platforms directly over the water. You sit at a low table with your feet in the current and eat gözleme or trout. Ask for the menu before you sit down.

Afterwards, sit a while. The current keeps cooling your feet while the sun works on the rest of you, and the contrast is the closest thing the canyon has to a spa.

Natural mud pools beside the entrance are said to be good for the skin, and plenty of visitors treat it as part of the visit.

Upstream is Kaş

The gorge is usually filed under Fethiye, but the map is less tidy. Its upper reaches lie in Kaş district, in Antalya province, and the river meets the provincial line close to where the visitor facilities stand. The turnstiles themselves are on the Muğla side, in the Seydikemer district. From Kalkan the road climbs inland by way of Palamut. From Kaş it is about 65 km.

Editor's picks

• Reach the gate early.Day tours from the coast stop here for a short visit. Arriving first gives you the walkway and the first bend to yourself.
• Wear shoes that grip.The river bed is rounded stone, and bare feet slip.
• Walk past the end of the planks.The wade is the reason to come.
• Eat on the river.Trout and gözleme on a platform over the water.
• Raft the Eşen.Tours run on the river nearby at several levels of difficulty, for families and groups.
• Add Tlos or Pinara.Both are Lycian cities with tombs cut into rock, 9 km and 13 km from the gorge.

Insider notes

Public holidays change the day. During a nine-day Kurban Bayramı break, officials counted about 45,000 visitors, and cars and people queued at the gate. Ask in Kalkan or Fethiye whether it is a holiday week before you plan the drive.

The gorge can close when the river runs high, so ask locally before you set out. Entry is a small fee at the turnstiles, so carry some lira. Phones and car keys belong in a dry bag.

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How to get to Saklıkent

Dalaman is the closest airport, about 1 hour 15 minutes by road. From Kalkan the gorge is about 30 km inland, and from Fethiye about 45 km, where dolmuşes leave from the main bus station. Dolmuş times change with the season, so ask locally. Flights from Europe and Istanbul are covered in Getting there.

On the last platform a pair of bare feet is going white in the current.