Routes DOĞU ANADOLU

Erzurum – Yusufeli Çoruh Vadisi Yolu (D950, Tortum Gölü ve Şelalesi üzeri)

Erzurum to Yusufeli: 1,350 metres of descent

DISTANCE: 146 km
DRIVING TIME: 2 h 12 min
STOPS: 13

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Directions in Google Maps İz on Google Play

01Erzurum – Tortum Yolu Caddesi
02Güzelyayla Geçidi
03Tortum ilçe merkezi
04Uzundere
05Pirinkayalar Tüneli güney portalı
06Pirinkayalar Tüneli kuzey portalı – Tortum Gölü başı
07Tortum Gölü kıyı seyri
08Balıklı köyü önü – Tortum Şelalesi sapağı
09Tortum Şelalesi seyir noktası
10Şilenkar Viyadüğü
11Olur–Oltu yol ayrımı
12Yusufeli Baraj Viyadüğü
13Yusufeli

DRAWING · NOT A LIVE MAP© OpenStreetMap contributors

A state-road stage that follows the Tortum Çayı valley from a 2,090 m pass down to the Çoruh, past a lake, a waterfall and a run of tunnels. The last 13 km leave the D950 at the dam viaduct and follow the D050 into Yusufeli.

The corridor is known for Türkiye's highest waterfall: Tortum Şelalesi, 48 m high and 22 m wide. Its water spills from the sill of a lake a landslide dammed in 1791; the 8 km² lake, at 1,000 m, is a first-degree protected site. The road is also a line of Georgian churches — Öşkvank at Çamlıyamaç, begun in 963, and the monastery at İşhan, refaced in 1032. It ends at the 275 m Yusufeli dam, third of its kind in the world, and 100 km of Çoruh rafting water.

What to eat

Cağ kebabı (Oltu cağ kebabı)
Marinated mutton or lamb cooked on a horizontal spit over wood embers, then cut with a döner knife onto small skewers and eaten with onion, chilli and lavaş.
Oltu (Erzurum), east from the Olur-Oltu junction at km 117 of the corridor — the grills are in central Oltu, off the main line; cooked over embers on a horizontal spit and transferred with a döner knife to small skewers, with onion, green chilli and lavaş — registered since 2010
Kadayıf dolması
Shredded pastry rolled around crushed walnut, dipped in beaten egg and fried, then finished with a sugar and lemon syrup.
Central Erzurum, the city where the corridor starts; walnut-filled kadayıf is dipped in egg and fried, and a sugar-lemon syrup is poured over it — registered since 2012
Küflü civil peyniri (göğermiş peynir)
A stringy, low-fat cheese mixed with curd, packed into containers and left to grow blue-green mould for two to six months; sharp, eaten at breakfast.
The cheese counters and breakfast tables of Erzurum; stringy civil is mixed with lor curd, pressed into containers and matured under mould for two to six months — registered since 2012
Uzundere dut pekmezi (ve dut pestili, cevizli köme)
Mulberry juice boiled down to a thick, honey-like molasses, with hand-made mulberry fruit leather and köme, walnuts strung and dipped in the same must.
Uzundere (Erzurum), a Cittaslow district centre at 1,093 m; the 100-dönüm mulberry orchard in Gölbaşı Mahallesi and the molasses factory run by the governorate's foundation, from summer into autumn after the harvest
Butko zeytini ve Çoruh Vadisi zeytinyağı
A local olive variety grown in the valley's mild microclimate, cured for the table and pressed into a low-acidity oil.
Yusufeli (Artvin), the terraced orchards of the Çoruh valley; ~25,000 trees on 880 dönüm across the district, 100 dönüm of them at Demirkent village, and the hand harvest begins in mid-October and lasts about two months
Çinçar çorbası
A village soup made with wild çinçar, a nettle-like green, bound with milk and dairy and eaten while the leaves are in season.
Yusufeli (Artvin), village tables and the restaurants of the new district centre; cooked with wild çinçar and bound with milk and dairy, found in the herb-picking season

What to buy

Oltu Taşı
Jet: a black, light stone that carves easily, worked into prayer beads, rings, necklaces and silver-inlaid pieces.
Central Erzurum, Taşhan (Rüstem Paşa Bedesteni), Fevziye Mah. Menderes Cad.; the two-storey courtyard han both works and sells the stone — a stop to settle before you set off, registered since 2015
Erzurum Ehram Dokuma Kumaşı
A hand-loomed cloth of 100% sheep's wool, once worn as a woman's single-piece wrap, now woven as scarves, shawls and covers.
Erzurum (Yakutiye), the Ehram weaving workshop of the Olgunlaşma Enstitüsü, Rabia Ana Mah. Şerif Efendi Cad.; scarves, shawls and covers are woven on hand looms from 100% sheep's wool
Erzurum Küflü Civil Peyniri (Göğermiş Peynir)
The matured blue-green mould cheese sold by the piece; sealed in a container it travels well and keeps its sharpness.
The cheesemongers and delicatessens of central Erzurum; it survives the journey in a closed container, and because maturing is done in cool stores it stays on sale through autumn and winter
Tortum Ekşi Pestili (kızılcık pestili)
A thin fruit leather of wild cornelian cherry and water with no sugar added — sour in taste, bright red, folded into sheets.
Tortum district centre, on the D950; made from wild cornelian cherry and drinking water with no sugar — sour in taste and bright red, and it comes out in autumn because the fruit is picked then
Tortum Cevizi
Walnuts from the orchards of the valley floor, sold in the shell so they keep on the road.
Tortum district centre and the orchards on the valley floor; at dry-goods sellers and roadside stalls in autumn, and bought in the shell they will not spoil on the journey
Uzundere Dut Pekmezi ve Kuru Dutu
Mulberry boiled down to a molasses thicker than usual, close to honey, with dried mulberries alongside; sold in jars.
Uzundere centre; the stone presses at the Pekmezlik shared production yard in Erikli Mahallesi still run, it is sold in jars and keeps until winter, and the season is autumn

Road notes

You cover the 146 km line in 2.2 hours without stopping, but with the waterfall, the lake and the Öşkvank turning at Uzundere it spreads across a day. Leave Erzurum early in the morning and fill the tank there.
The one point that shuts in winter is the 2,090 m Güzelyayla Pass, between Erzurum and Tortum. On 24-25 December 2023 a blizzard closed the road and lorries were stranded on the pass; on 9 April 2026 snow and drifting again left vehicles standing. From December to April do not set off without winter preparation.
Tortum Şelalesi opens at 09:00 every day of the week and closes at 18:00; in 2023 entry was 15 TL a head. A short side road near Balıklı village drops to the viewing point, so be inside before closing.
The water follows the calendar: it comes down in full force in May and June, and the flow drops off after June. It also depends on the hydro plant — in 2022 the water was cut off completely for nine days, then released again under a minimum flow of 3.5 cubic metres a second.
Erzurum sits at 1,959 m, Yusufeli at 601 m — a descent of 1,350 m in between. What keeps you warm on the pass in the morning is too much on the valley floor; dress in layers and keep both with you.
After Uzundere the road goes underground: 17 single-tube tunnels come one after another on the 28.5 km dam relocation section. Take your sunglasses off before the portal, and if you are on a motorcycle keep your visor clean.
The old Pirinkayalar pass and its 22 hairpins are still there; the turning is at the south portal of the 2,272 m tunnel. The tunnel cut the crossing from 20 minutes to 5. The old road is 4 km and has a name for rockfall, tight hairpins and fatal crashes; the surface is unverified — go up there only in summer, in daylight, in dry weather and without hurrying.
Buy each thing in the right town: oltu taşı in Erzurum at the Taşhan, sour cornelian-cherry fruit leather and walnuts in central Tortum, mulberry molasses in Uzundere. Cornelian cherry and mulberry are picked in autumn, so these stalls are at their fullest then.

Along the way

Tortum Gölü
A landslide-dammed lake up to 100 m deep that the road follows along its shore — a protected site and wetland with 220 recorded bird species.
Öşvank (Öşkvank) Kilisesi
A 10th-century Georgian Bagratid cathedral standing among village houses, its twelve-windowed dome drum and tall windows still intact.
İşhan Manastır Kilisesi
A cruciform domed basilica of 34.95 by 20.75 m, begun in the 7th century and rebuilt in 1032, in a walnut-shaded village above the Çoruh.
Pirinkayalar Tüneli ve eski geçit
A 2,272 m tunnel opened in December 2021 that replaced a 4 km pass of 22 tight hairpins; the old road is still there for anyone who wants the corners.
Güzelyayla Geçidi (2.090 m)
The highest point of the corridor at 2,090 m, a bare treeless saddle where the Erzurum plateau breaks towards the Çoruh valley.

When to go

Late May / June

Warnings

After heavy rain, ask about the road before you enter the valley section: on the night of 18 June 2026 rock and earth came off the slope at a tunnel exit near Yusufeli and closed the road in both directions. The Güzelyayla Pass can shut from December to April in snow and blizzards.

Itinerary

Distances between stops were measured along the route's line and scaled to the total; that is why the last stop reads the route's own kilometres.

01 Erzurum – Tortum Yolu Caddesi
02 Güzelyayla Geçidi
03 Tortum ilçe merkezi
04 Uzundere
05 Pirinkayalar Tüneli güney portalı
06 Pirinkayalar Tüneli kuzey portalı – Tortum Gölü başı
07 Tortum Gölü kıyı seyri
08 Balıklı köyü önü – Tortum Şelalesi sapağı
09 Tortum Şelalesi seyir noktası
10 Şilenkar Viyadüğü
11 Olur–Oltu yol ayrımı
12 Yusufeli Baraj Viyadüğü
13 Yusufeli

START ▶ Erzurum – Tortum Yolu Caddesi · FINISH ■ Yusufeli

Erzurum – Tortum Yolu Caddesi (D950 kuzey çıkışı)0 km
Güzelyayla Geçidi (2.090 m)+39 km39 km
Tortum ilçe merkezi (D950)+12 km52 km
Uzundere (D950; Öşkvank ve Bağbaşı sapağı)+32 km84 km
Pirinkayalar Tüneli güney portalı (eski geçit sapağı)+10 km93 km
Pirinkayalar Tüneli kuzey portalı – Tortum Gölü başı+2 km96 km
Tortum Gölü kıyı seyri+2 km98 km
Balıklı köyü önü – Tortum Şelalesi sapağı+2 km100 km
Tortum Şelalesi seyir noktası+4 km103 km
Şilenkar Viyadüğü (Oltu Çayı)+15 km119 km
Olur–Oltu yol ayrımı (D060 kavşağı)+3 km122 km
Yusufeli Baraj Viyadüğü (D950–D050 ayrımı)+11 km133 km
Yusufeli (yeni ilçe merkezi, Yansıtıcılar)+13 km146 km

Directions in Google Maps

Sources

59 SOURCES

This record is the counterpart of the route card on İz's Explore screen. The whole shelf, and how it was compiled, is on the route shelf. İz is live on Google Play and on the App Store.