Göreme Loop
Göreme,
Türkiye
Overview
The Göreme Loop Hike is a stunning loop hike comprising multiple trails that showcases some of Cappadocia’s most iconic landscapes and valleys. From Göreme, proceed along the road to the Göreme Open Air Museum, the route first passes by this UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its rock-cut churches and frescoes, and you can opt to detour from the hike to explore this area. From there, the path descends into the Meskendir Valley, a quieter gorge filled with soft tuff formations, hidden cave dwellings, and old rock tunnels. Continuing onward, the trail opens into the Red Valley, famous for its striking crimson-hued cliffs that glow brilliantly at sunset. The hike then ascends out of Red Valley and into the neighboring Rose Valley, where softer shades of pink and rose-colored stone create a surreal and almost dreamlike atmosphere. To complete the loop, the trail winds through the Sword Valley, one of the shortest but most dramatic valleys, with its sharp rock spires, fairy chimneys and narrow passage through constricted rock walls. From here, the path reconnects with the road leading back toward the Göreme Open Air Museum and onto Göreme Center.
Directions
Parking
Trip Reports
This was my first hike in Göreme after doing some sightseeing with the family the day before. I got up early and was out the hotel door shortly after 6am. Being the middle of summer, I wanted to hike in the morning before the temperatures spiked. Although it generally wasn't too bad while we were there, in the low 80's, it's much more pleasant to hike in the morning, and I could get back in time to enjoy a late breakfast.
I made my way down Anatolian Houses, our hotel in Göreme, towards the center of town and scanned the sky for hot air balloons, but didn't see any. It was too windy for ballooning today, although you couldn't tell in town or on the hike, as there was no noticeable breeze. I walked along the side of Muze Cd road and quickly saw some fairy chimneys just outside of town, and continued along to the Göreme Open Air Museum, which wasn't open yet at this early hour. Muze Cd road is closed to traffic once you reach Göreme Open Air Museum, however there is a pathway to the side which then deposits you back onto the road a little farther up - it looked like they were excavating the area.
Once past Göreme Open Air Museum, I descended up a small hill on the road and then had to keep a close eye on my phone to make sure I didn't miss the turn off the road. It ended up being straightforward to find, however I found during my hiking in Göreme it was absolutely essential to have a map downloaded with the track you wanted to follow. The hikes I did were on multiple trails, almost all of which were not signed. And to make things more difficult, there are a number of trails that criss-cross each other, making it easy to inadvertently follow the wrong trail.
I followed a road down into Meskendir Valley, then cut over on a small trail to another road which descended down to the valley floor and eventually was on a trail. The trail weaved through a fairly narrow canyon, although not nearly as narrow as Sword Valley later in the day. In addition to all the cave dwellings, there were cool arches and tunnels that the trail passed through. With no one else on the trail, it felt like I was in a magical wonderland and was quite the way to kick off my hiking in Göreme!
There was a bit more greenery than expected, likely because the canyon protected the plants from the harsh afternoon sun. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to this trail in heavy rainfall, it seemed like it would be flooded pretty quickly. But with no rain in the forecast, it wasn't something I had to worry about. I passed by a small open air cafe, but outside of a few cats, no one was stirring at the cafe, likely still too early in the morning.
About halfway through the valley, I took a side trail to find the Meskendir Cave Church. It wasn't the right side trail, and I had to backtrack, but a little more poking around and I found the church. It's crazy to just find a random church from 1,000 AD carved into the side of a valley off a hiking trail. There were some fairly intricate carvings on the inside, and some red geometric lines still adorned the ceiling. I hadn't done any research about the church, and wasn't sure exactly what I was looking at, but it was impressive nonetheless.
Back on the trail, I continued north along the trail, passing through some additional arches and tunnels. Eventually Meskendir started to widen a bit, and that was my clue to start looking for a trail into Red Valley. Consulting my phone, it was fairly easy to find and I turned left and proceeded to hike up Red Valley.
Part way up Red Valley, it became clear where the name of the valley came from, as the walls of the valley started to show a distinct red and pink tint. It's interesting how a lot of the valleys around Göreme have distinct characteristics, such as coloring or types of rock formations. Progressing up Red Valley, the valley walls began to increase in height and there were interesting rock formations along the walls.
The trail climbed up from the valley floor and onto the ridge overlooking the valley, which provided for some nice views, and continued along a dirt road for a ways. After a while, I veered off the road around the Kızılvadi Restaurant, next to the Uzumlu Church, also known as the grape church. Unlike many of the other rock carved churches in the area, this one had a gate preventing entry, as there was preservation work that had recently completed. However, you could still see the inside through the bars of the gate.
Continuing along from Grape Church, I spotted footholds carved into the rock with a chain hand rail heading up a steep face to my left, and decided to go check it out. I thought it might lead to another church or carved out cave, or at the very least to a view point, but after climbing up I realized it connected into the trail I would be taking into Rose Valley. Afraid I might miss some cool views and sights by taking this short cut, I backtracked and continued along the way. In hindsight, I would have been fine to take this route, as it would have shaved off probably about a half mile and there wasn't anything spectacular going the longer way.
Back on the main trail, I ascended up to the ridge, and passed by a paved parking lot on my right. There looked to be some construction going on nearby, and imagine this could be a good sunrise spot, with ample eastern views. I continued along the trail as it turned and headed west along the ridge, providing some nice views of Red and Rose Valley along the way.
I then left the ridge and followed the trail north into Rose Valley, as it serpentined its way through the rock formations. The trail was a mix of dirt, sand and some sections carved into the rock. I had to check my phone fairly often to make sure I was on the right trail, as there were numerous other trails criss-crossing my chosen path.
Eventually the trail began a slow ascent up and I walked by a cafe, with the owner beckoning me in. It would have been nice to sip on a coffee or tea, but I was a little behind schedule and wanted to ensure I got back to the hotel in time for breakfast, so I continued along. I had a hard time finding the right trail, and had to backtrack a couple of times before realizing where I needed to go. I checked out the Haçlı Kilise, also known as the Crusader Church, which had an impressive fresco still visible on the walls.
Just past Crusader Church was a couple of cave dwellings that had expansive views of the area. I tried to climb up into one of the upper dwellings with the best view, but could get a good grip and opted for the easier one. Content with my photos, I was back on the trail making my way further down into Rose Valley.
I hiked along the trail and while enjoying the views missed my turn off. Backtracking, I found a steep trail heading down further into Rose Valley. Fortunately, there was a rope on the steepest section, which came in handy..I probably could have done it without the rope, however there were loose pebbles on the rock trail and a slip down the steep slope wouldn't have been fun.
I cruised along the valley floor enjoying the different rock formations and colors. This section seemed to have yellows and blues - you would think I would be bored looking at the rocks, but there were slight variations to the colorings and formations, it kept it interesting. While walking along I noticed some caves up above in the rocks that looked to have some unique carvings in them, and checking the map, realized this was Üç Haclı, also known as 3 Crosses Church. It was hard to find an easy way up to the Church, and eventually I just scaled up a 15 foot section of rock, and fortunately, didn't slip on the way down.
I followed the trail out of Rose Valley, and encountered my first people of the day. A small group in a couple cars taking photos of the nearby rock formations. The trail veered south and I saw a couple more groups along the way, including a group of cyclists and a group on horseback. The trail ascended over a small ridge and I got some final snaps of Rose Valley.
From the ridge, the trail was carved into pure rock and eventually opened up into a flattish open area with lots of fairy chimneys dotting the landscape. There was another group on horseback riding along the trail, as it was later in the morning now, and people were out and about. I consulted my phone to ensure I stayed on the proper trail and headed south, ready to get back to the hotel for breakfast.
I passed by a church and cave castle, which I didn't bother going inside, and stopped to take some photos of an interesting structure that looked like it had a rock ceiling built on top instead of being a cave carved into the rock.
At this point, I thought the hike was more or less over and I was just covering ground to get back to Göreme Open Air Market. But soon I was in Sword Valley, which was very narrow and reminded me of some slot canyons I had been in Arizona and Utah. A couple of sections had wooden ladders in place to scale up steep rock faces, and I passed a couple coming down the other direction in the canyon.
Out of Sword Valley, I hooked back up with the road and made my way to Göreme Open Air Market, which was now a zoo of people. There were at least 10 large tour buses in the parking lot, and a ton of people milling about the outside waiting to head in with their tour guides, quite a different scene from earlier in the morning when I passed by. I quickly walked back along the road and made it back to the hotel to have a late breakfast with my family. My first hike in Cappadocia was amazing - my favorite hike of the trip, as it went through 4 different valleys, each with unique characteristics. It was tough at times to follow the trail, but was worth it, highly recommend this hike!
