One of Rize's heaviest flows
Only fifteen metres, but May and June snowmelt off the Kaçkars turns it into a wall of water you hear before you see.
BSRF — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kadir KARA — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Valen1988 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Valen1988 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Only fifteen metres tall, but in late spring so much snowmelt comes over the lip that Palovit is one of the heaviest-flowing waterfalls in Rize province, and you hear it before you see it. It sits on the Palovit stream, a tributary of the Fırtına river, inside Kaçkar Mountains National Park, and the drive in is half the point: a narrow forested valley strung with Ottoman stone bridges and timber houses that people still live in. From Rize city it is a full day out. Count on about an hour and a quarter to the town of Çamlıhemşin, then roughly 12 km up the Fırtına valley on a narrow paved road to Zilkale castle, where you turn into the Palovit side valley on a narrow mountain road that turns to gravel. Çamlıhemşin to the falls is only about 20 km but takes 45 minutes to an hour on the twisting road and its rough final stretch. An ordinary hire car copes in dry summer weather if you take it slowly; after rain you want a 4x4 or one of the jeep tours that run from Ayder, which is how most Gulf visitors do it. From the parking area it is a walk of a few minutes to the viewing platform. There is no ticket, no gate and no closing time. Timing decides the visit. In May and June, with the snow melting off the Kaçkars, the fall is at its fullest and the spray reaches you before the platform does. In August, when Ayder is packed with Gulf families, the flow eases but the valley stays cool and green, a real relief from the coast. In winter the road is snowed shut, so rule it out from December until the spring thaw, usually April. One last piece of advice: do not drive up for Palovit alone. Make it the last stop of a half-day that starts at the Şenyuva stone bridge, climbs to Zilkale, then ends at the falls, and you are back in Ayder or Çamlıhemşin by mid-afternoon. The walk is short and fine for children, but a pushchair will not manage the short rough path, and hold hands near the platform because the rocks are permanently wet.
Only fifteen metres, but May and June snowmelt off the Kaçkars turns it into a wall of water you hear before you see.
The climb up the Fırtına and Palovit valleys passes Ottoman stone bridges, timber houses and dense forest, and is half the pleasure.
The falls work best as the final stop of a half-day with the Şenyuva bridge and Zilkale castle on the same road.
Palovit Valley, Çamlıhemşin, Kaçkar Mountains National Park
Yes if you fold it into a half-day with Zilkale and the Şenyuva bridge, no if you would drive up for the falls alone. The waterfall itself needs half an hour; the round trip from Ayder is about two and a half hours. In August the flow drops, so if you must choose between Palovit and a jeep trip to the higher Kaçkar plateaus, the plateaus win in summer.
In dry summer weather, yes, driven slowly on the gravel and hairpins; plenty of people do it in a small car. After a day of rain, which is common in Rize even in July, the surface turns slick and muddy and a 4x4 or an Ayder jeep tour, priced through your hotel, is the sensible choice.
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