The Goksü River: Kayaking in Central Turkey

Turkey

Reaching the Goksü

There are two potential starting points for a journey down the Goksü River. Both are easily accessible by car or even public transit.

A few sources I found online hinted that the Goksü is navigable from as high up as Bıçakçı Bridge, about 45km upstream. Based on my Google Earth research, this section looked incredibly beautiful and very tempting to paddle, but due to the lack of information I could find about the two steep, scary-looking canyons, I decided to play it safe and skip this section.

As a solo packrafter, I have a strict rule when scouting and researching rivers. If a section of a river appears to be steep and difficult or impossible to portage, I skip it. The only exception is if I can find solid sources indicating that the section is easily navigable, and at or below my skill level. And for this river, there were zero trip reports.

This self-enforced rule has quite possibly saved my life on numerous expeditions, including my previous visit to Turkey. So despite occasional regrets of missing an opportunity like this, I will continue to play by it, and strongly advise that anyone else considering an off-the-beaten-path solo expedition does the same.

So I decided to begin my trip at a lower starting point, the village of Derinçay.

Karaman, the nearest big city about 80km to the north, can be easily reached by bus or train from Ankara, Istanbul, Antalya, or just about anywhere in Turkey. From Karaman's bus terminal (otogar), catch one of the many minibuses (dolmuş) heading south to Mut. The dolmuş will get you as close as the nearby village of Burunköy (ask the driver to stop and he'll let you off anywhere), which is about a 7km walk through winding, hilly, farm roads to the riverbed at Derinçay.

Or if you're more ballsy than I was and want to start from the upper section, catch a dolmuş to Ermenek which will take you right over Bıçakçı Bridge.

As it always seems to be in Turkey, traveling by local minibus was a bit of an adventure. If you're on a time crunch or hate waiting, rent a car and drive. But if you want to experience Turkish life in it's true form, travel like the locals do.

After dodging the swarm of touts trying to sell me bus tickets at the main station, I found the sole minibus headed for Mut parked outside. The driver quickly ushered me onboard and told me the bus would be leaving in 5 minutes.

5 Turkish minutes quickly turned into more, as the driver stood outside his bus seemingly desperate to fill up more seats before embarking. After what seemed like over an hour of waiting for what turned out to be zero extra passengers, the driver got in his seat and started driving. Sure enough, just 5 minutes later he stopped at a curbside bus stop in the city center, where a few passengers got on and started chatting away with the driver in rapid-fire Turkish. Seemingly not satisfied with the number of passengers gathered so far, we waited another half an hour before finally driving towards Mut.

The driver gave me a friendly goodbye as I got off in the small village of Burunköy and started my walk into the Turkish countryside.

The hike involved a bit of rock scrambling and bushwacking to reach the riverbed, but what's a good packrafting trip without a hike in?

This region of Turkey is completely off the tourist trail, so don't expect any marked or maintained hiking trails. Fortunately, the area is heavily utilized for agriculture, so there is no shortage of farm roads and sheep trails and most of these trails can be followed via Google Earth or Maps.me.

The Journey

Section 1: Derinçay to Hamamköy (18km)

At its upper section, the Goksü has a high-valley feel, as it makes a winding path through a wide-open valley. Small rolling hills scatter the riverbank, and the round peaks of the Taurus Mountains tower in the distance.

At its narrowest and shallowest stretches coming out of Derinçay, the sun illuminates the beautiful waters of the turquoise river. As a paddler, you feel as if your paddle is dipping into some sort of witch's potion.

Although the river has a steady current, there are few rapids in this section. At the first bridge, there is a small weir (<1m drop), but this is easily navigable without any issues.

Section 2: Hamamköy - Kislakoy (37km)

Soon after Hamamköy, the river meets a right tributary and almost doubles in volume. The Goksü is no longer a small mountain stream, but is now a large-volume river, up to 200m wide at times and deeper than my paddle could reach even at its shallowest sections.

The river maintains a strong current with scattered sections of Class I rapids, making the bulk of this section a very relaxing paddle. It's one of those rivers where you can basically sit back, take a nap, and let the river take you where you need to go.

As the river meanders through the wide valley of orchards, vineyards, and small farming villages, I pass the occasional farmer or shepherd; each equally baffled as to what a lone foreigner is doing with a kayak all the way up here.

The mountains of the upper section move further into the distance, as the immediate surroundings move into a mixture between tabletop rolling hills, gravel embankments, and flat meadows. Towards the end of the section, the mountains in the distance begin coming closer and closer. Let's just call this a preview of the next section to come...  

Section 3: Kislakoy - Karakaya (26km)

The mountains continue to draw nearer and nearer, and the river becomes faster and faster, with bigger and more frequent rapids. About 6km in, the river enters a narrow, steep canyon - probably the most difficult section of the journey.

The canyon's rocky outcrops and massive boulders - some upwards of 20m in diameter - leave the river without much room. At times, the river (which only a few hundred meters upstream was a 200m-wide valley river) gets sucked through tiny gaps between boulders. And this much water doesn't particularly like doing this..

The eddies and currents were more powerful than anything I'd ever paddled before; yanking and tugging my kayak in every way imaginable. It was like a rip current suddenly decided that it was going to pull you in, out, and sideways all at the same time. Even with my sturdy packraft and thigh straps to help me balance, I felt as if the river was just trying to suck me in. Admittedly, it was in this section that I debated giving up on the trip and hiking out of the canyon.

Luck be with me, after about a kilometer or two of battling eddies from hell, the canyon widened into a spectacular gorge, with some high-volume Class I-II rapids to keep it entertaining. Exhausted from the first half of the section, I spent the night camping in the gorge right above the village of Kargiçak.

Right below Kargiçak, there are a series of two Class II-III rapids. Both can be easily avoided by running river left and river right respectively. I personally decided to avoid the first but run the second, though a more daring kayaker could have easily run both.

The canyon continues to get wider and deeper as the river flows further into the depth of the mountains. Rapids become less frequent, and the river returns to its previous state of being a wide and largely calm river. As the river twists its way through the canyon, it moves back and forth against the canyon walls. At times the walls are near vertical and rocky, giving it a real "canyon" feel, while at other times they are heavily forested with vegetation. Which, during late August when I ran the river, was equally spectacular with all the colors.

Section 4: Karakaya - Silifke (19km)

Under the bridge in Karakaya, there is a powerful artificial rapid (Class III-IV), which I decided to make a difficult portage around on river left. A skilled paddler could run it on river right.

A few bends later, the river enters an even wider, rocky canyon. The farmlands of the upper valley that surrounded the river have now become a barren quarry. For about 6km, this is easily the most remote section of the river. You won't see any farms, active roads, sheep, or other signs of civilization. Although mostly flatwater, there is one Class II rapid towards the end of the quarry section.

The canyon soon returns to forests and farmlands as the river approaches the city of Silifke. Due to the backlog of Silifke's hydroelectric dam, the final 15km are almost entirely slow-moving flatwater. Though scenic, it's relatively boring paddling with little current remaining.

At kilometer 12, the river makes a fork around a small river island. Go left along the narrower side, as on river right you'll run into a dangerous Class III-IV rapid with no place to portage or scout (the banks are very overgrown).  

The trip can be ended as far up as 8km from Silifke, where two dirt roads begin following the river on each side, each leading to the city. 1km above the center of Silifke is the hydroelectric dam - make sure to end the trip well before this as once you reach the dam there is no convenient spot to exit the river.