After a 30 minute drive from Egiridir, we slowly rise up the valley towards the bare mountains above.
The walk starts from the 'Oluklu Çeşme', a spring with a cascade of half pipes for the livestock to drink from.
We walk gently uphill throgu open farmland fringed by forest and later enter the dense pine forest.
Arriving at a large open plain, you pick up the forest road for a couple of km, descending to another large plain of red soil. Keeping a close lookout for the 'Elephant Rock' on the left, you enter the thick mixed forest and climb steeply into the Kasnak forest park. The Kasnak oaks are Volcanic oaks which are very rare and only found in this area and another smaller area to the north, near Aksehir lake. The Kasnak forest is a dense arboretum of Oaks, Pines, Maple, Cedars and Junipers of many varieties, and is heavily protected by law.
