Sandras, with an altitude of 2294 meters, is the highest mountain in the Muğla region. There are two “heavens” standing “hidden” at the foot of the mountain. Topgözü Canyon, which has a width of 400 meters and a depth of 300 meters, and Yuvarlak Stream, which irrigates the citrus fruit plain in summer, instill health and vitality in people with its lush green vegetation and clean air. The snow waters emerging from the rocks and meeting the sunlight turn into a waterfall that is endless to watch.

There is no need for other words, this place is like a “miracle of nature” with its plains, plateaus, canyons and waterfalls.

A similar one to Saklıkent in Fethiye is located at the foot of Sandras, which is located on the Köyceğiz ridge and is the highest mountain in the Muğla region with 2294 meters. Topgözü Canyon: The canyon range is 400 meters deep, and the rest is a 300 meter deep cliff. Snow water coming to light through the rocks creates a waterfall here. The hard granite rocks that withstood the rushing waters in April-May became as smooth as polished due to the force of the stream.

The waters coming out of the stone bottom in the Çayhisar region form the Yuvarlak Stream and irrigate the plain, which is a citrus fruit store in the summer. While the stream provides drinking water for Beyobası Village and the Yangı region of Köyceğiz, the other part flows into Köyceğiz Lake. Although it is a rough water to drink, it is very cold and adds flavor and vitality to the meat of the surrounding trout.

There are nearly 20 restaurants, large and small, on Yuvarlak Çay. The region has lush vegetation and the air is beyond clean. Black pine trees on the Sandras and Çiçek Baba Mountains are among our special trees. Eighty percent of black pines, which are considered first-class trees, have durable solid timber that is sought after in joinery and furniture making, as they are knot-free highland pine trees.

The timber for the Turkish House, built in America by the Muğla Governorship, was sent from the trees of this mountain.

Pınar and Çınar, among the restaurants where you can stay all night if you want a clean mountain air, are the places for those who want to eat and drink with the sound of water on wooden terraces built on the water. There are also people who catch trout from nature with a fishing rod. In restaurants, farmed fish are cooked in the oven on wood fire and on tiles, while the village’s unique butter is also used. It also comes to your table on untouched hot tiles.

Shepherd’s salad is always served with eggplants roasted in the same oven. Yuvarlak Stream, where people staying around come to eat, requires a sweater in the evenings, while you can swim in the flowing water during the day. The facilities are open all year round, and they have tied long ropes to the high branches of the trees for those who want to jump into the stream like Tarzan. The coldness of the water is the same in summer and winter: 10 degrees. They built hammocks under the trees next to the stream, and lodges consisting of seating units in remote, secluded corners.

Your surroundings are full of myrtle, pomegranate, plane, lemon and walnut trees, whose leaves give off scent when thrown into the tea. Wild boar and duck hunting is also done in the region during the winter months. Bird species such as quail and partridge are quite rich. There are walking areas, parking areas close to restaurants and card phone booths in the surrounding area.

What to see?

Dalaman Stream is one of the places to visit and see in the surrounding area. There are 4 rafting agencies operating in this region, and even if you do not raft, canoe or kayak, you can watch those who do. You can see the part of the delicately built historical Akköprü that will be flooded due to the dam construction in its final form. If you love nature and have a special interest in trees, you can go to the “Ağla” plateau from Köyceğiz and examine the astonishing monumental plane tree area.

You can take a motor tour in Dalyan. Tired travelers walking around Köyceğiz lake can get treatment without medication by watching the pastel colors in the reflection of the Ölemez Mountains on the water.

Safari at the top

Sandras, the highest hill of Muğla, cools the tourist paradise on its foothills; On the other hand, it offers its enthusiasts the pleasure of safari at the top.

Ağla Village, where we take a break while climbing to the top, is an open-air museum where tourists can take a breather both before and after the safari, with its monumental trees, typical village houses, springs and lakes. Sandras, the highest mountain in Muğla with its Kartal Lake, monumental trees and Ağla Plateau, hides many more surprises.

This time, we go to the top of the Sandras Mountains and take a documentary safari to the highest peak of the Muğla region – in other words, its roof – with an altitude of 2294 meters. On our way, there is a museum of monumental trees in Ağla Village, and there are lakes at the top that are so beautiful that it is difficult to describe. Leaving from the Ağla junction of the Köyceğiz ring road, the narrow, straight and 3-kilometer asphalt village road continues rising among the trees.

The village, which has many springs, was named “Ağla” because of the water flowing everywhere and reminding of tears. This forest village, located 12 kilometers away from the main road, immediately impresses people with its plateaus and trees as well as its cool and clean air. There are recreation areas in Ağla Acılık area. The most important feature of this region is that it looks like a kind of tree museum, consisting of surprising trees with interesting trunk structures.

Plane trees, the youngest of which is 300 years old, have trunks large enough for three or four people to enter; It reminds us of the set of a Hollywood thriller, with its branches that first separated from each other and then come together again after years to continue their journey as a single body, its sculpture-like knots, and its roots springing from the ground to the earth. The taste of Ağla The village with typical forest houses; In the square decorated with weeping willows, plane trees and roses, there is a modest country restaurant in the garden where families from Köyceğiz and Marmaris dine.

Şengül Hanım, the owner of the countryside restaurant, offers her guests “special” dishes as well as local dishes. One of these dishes is “Borana”. After the peppers and eggplants are fried, village yoghurt with garlic is poured over them, chili peppers are sprinkled and melted butter specific to the village is added.

Borana, in which mallow, poppy and purslane are added after being boiled or roasted, is served with onions, peppers and spices as garnish. Salad is served alongside “sour chicken”, which is boiled and fried with garlic, and “sac roasted”, which is cooked in special sheet metal containers of various sizes depending on the number of guests. Another local drink you can drink after your meal is herbal tea.

Keki grass branches, collected and dried during the flowering season, are dipped into glasses filled with boiled spring water. This tea refreshes the palate with its scent and the golden yellow color it imparts to the water.Ağla Yayla Restaurant (Ayhan Güçlü)Tel: (0-252) 262 44 94Springs, lakes, treesThere is a water named “Akçarsak” at the exit of Ağla Village. This spring water, which has a hardness level of 8, is easy to drink and refillable.

If the springs in the Sandras Mountains come from red soil regions, they are called “Kızlan water”. When the Scots pine trees on the foothills of the Sandras Mountains end, black pine trees begin. Ağla timber, the most qualified timber of Turkey, is obtained from this region.

These timbers were used again for the Turkish house built in America last year. On the other hand, according to the local people; If the type of moss called “Gevildek”, which is a type of parasite that lives on pine trees, is fed to sheep and goats for three months, they get the most delicious meat of its kind, and the animals fed with this plant almost gain the taste of “venison”. While climbing towards the summit of Sandras, you can see an artificial lake consisting of boiling waters located at the foot of the “Altın Sivri” hill, at the foot of the “Altın Sivri” hill, around Dikenli Oluk, where the springs of Gökçeova locality are located. you encounter.

Natural trout was produced in the lake, which looks like an emerald ring stone. The lake that the officers are waiting for is also protected as forest fire water. You can only transit through the lake, which has a wire fence around it and picnics and hunting are prohibited.

Among the things you can see along the route are some small forest animals, trees that dye the kindling from which tar is obtained, and unfortunately, the bottom parts of large-bodied monumental trees that were cut down to generate income.

Eagle Lake, named after the eagles that love high places that are difficult to access and nest on the peaks, at an altitude of 2 thousand meters, Eagle Lake displays a wild beauty. In the region, which is snowy in summer and winter, the area around the spoon-like lake is covered with wild hyacinths, yellow daisies and various mountain flowers that are resistant to both the sun and the night frost.

The trees in this region are; leafless, its hills developed under the influence of the wind and tilted due to the weight of the snow it carries… In contrast to the charm of Kartal Lake at the top, another beauty is experienced on its ground. Unlike the spectacular lake mentioned above, picnics and camping can be done around Kartal Lake. Due to the altitude, a physical lightness is felt, and there are no breathing problems in the clean air.

You can easily use a clean section that we removed from the bottom of the snow on the ground as ice in your drinks. The same snow is sold by the kilo in the Köyceğiz market, mixed with molasses. Kartal Lake, fed by snow water, has no chance of warming up. There are not many living species other than wild trout and frogs in the icy waters.

Burnt trees, left traces and grooves by lightning strikes, make you feel like you are on another planet. The short, dark nephthi-colored, delicately structured, astroturf-like grass that grows in accordance with the climatic conditions of the ground hosts the “Mahya Festivals”, a kind of religious ceremony attended by 1500-2000 people, on the 3rd Thursday of August every year.

Those who attend the ceremony cut and take the pieces they want from the sheep and kids hung on the trees, cook them in the lit ovens and eat them. The festival is celebrated with various folkloric dances, conversations and events.

Sandras Mountain Kartal Lake Travel Guide

Sandras Mountain Peak

Sandras Mountain Pictures