Nüzhetiye Waterfall

About this place

You cannot drive to this waterfall, and that is the whole point. The car stops at a trout farm above Nüzhetiye village; from there a trail threads roughly four to five kilometres up a narrow valley under beech, hornbeam, linden and chestnut, crossing the stream several times on logs and wet stones, with fixed ropes to help you over some of the rocks in the streambed. The reward is a curtain of water dropping into a cold, shaded hollow, and you hear it long before you see it. Treat it as a half-day walk for people who genuinely like walking, not a quick photo stop. The route is graded moderate on the signed nature-walking network run by Kocaeli's metropolitan municipality, but moss-covered rock makes it harder than the distance suggests, and groups typically take three to five hours there and back with stops. Waterproof boots are a necessity rather than a luxury, and a spare pair of shoes in the car is a good idea. The rim of the pool under the falls looks tempting and is dangerously slick; the water is cold even in August. Plainly: this is no place for a pushchair, for grandparents, or for anyone who wants a picture by the water without earning it. Sure-footed children of ten and up will enjoy the stream crossings more than anything else; younger ones are better left in Sapanca. In summer İzmit locals come to escape the heat, and the dense shade keeps the valley far cooler than the motorway, but the flow is strongest in spring after snowmelt. After rain the path turns to mud and should be postponed, and in winter snow turns it into a harder walk that needs experience and proper kit. From Sapanca it is car only: take the D-100 west through İzmit, bear towards Gölcük and Yalova, leave at the Bahçecik exit and follow the Nüzhetiye signs to the end of the village. Count on about 45 km and roughly an hour. There is no fee, no gate and no toilet at the falls; the trout restaurant at the trailhead is the only facility, and a plate of grilled trout on the way back is the right way to close the day.