Sorgun Pond Nature Park

Overview

Guide

Sorgun Göleti Nature Park is a reservoir-side woodland in Güdül district, at the north-western edge of Ankara province. The area was declared a nature park on 11 July 2011 at 50 hectares. During the preparation of its development plan, begun in 2013, private property was found inside the boundary, and the law required the boundary to be redrawn; a ministerial approval dated 1 April 2016 and numbered 406 changed the limits and brought the park to 54 hectares.

The setting is steppe with forest surviving as islands within it, generally the remnants of groves left by past clearance and grazing. Black pine, juniper and, in places, oak dominate those patches. The directorate notes that such woodland was once far more widespread in the hills around Ankara and that damage has turned much of it into degraded oak scrub or milkvetch steppe. Depending on how far that has gone, the steppe still carries shrubs and small trees: wild pear, several hawthorns, dog rose and other wild roses, blackthorn, wild almond, barberry, cotoneaster and both needle-leaved and scale-leaved junipers. Among the animals observed are woodpecker, goldfinch, magpie, sparrow, squirrel, lizards and frogs, along with brown bear, wolf, jackal, badger, marten, weasel, wood mouse and hare.

This is a family picnic park. The day-use areas are laid out for picnicking, and there are toilets, a country restaurant, a country house, open-air event grounds and a children's play area; forest paths allow walking. Opening hours are 08:00 to 22:00, and the stated capacity is 750 visitors, 30 vehicles and 15 tents.

Two routes lead from Ankara and they are almost the same length. One runs along the Ankara-Ayaş road, turns off to Güdül district and continues through the Kamanlar, Yeşilöz and Sorgun neighbourhoods, a distance of 104 kilometres. The other leaves the Ankara-İstanbul motorway at kilometre 60 for the Güdül road and passes Çeltikçi, then Kurumcu, Hüyük and Kınık villages before reaching Sorgun, a distance of 103 kilometres. The park is run from the Beypazarı office of the Ankara directorate.