Çal Cave (Underground River) and Hıdırnebi Yaylası ('Above the Clouds')

If you want to experience both a dramatic subterranean river canyon and a classic green Black Sea mountain pasture (yayla) just 45 to 50 minutes west of central Trabzon, without driving the longer 95-kilometre road to Uzungöl, the western highland loop linking Çal Cave and Hıdırnebi Yaylası is one of the most rewarding days out in the province.

1. Çal Cave (Çal Mağarası, In Düzköy, 45 km south-west of Trabzon)

Situated at 1,050 metres elevation inside the village of Çalköy (with a small medieval Byzantine-Ottoman stone watch-castle perched directly on top of the rock roof above the cave entrance), Çal Cave is one of the longest explored cave systems in the world (with over 8 kilometres of mapped underground passages, of which the first 850 metres are open to visitors along a well-lit, step-free steel and wooden boardwalk):

• An Underground River and Waterfall: unlike dry stalactite caves, Çal Cave is an active subterranean river canyon. An underground stream flows right through the middle of the cavern beneath your feet (forming a roaring underground waterfall at the entrance in spring and early summer when mountain snow melts, and receding to mirror-still emerald pools in autumn), while the vaulted limestone ceiling soars up to 40 metres overhead.
• Two Branching Arms & A Cave Café: after 200 metres, the boardwalk splits into a Left Arm (climbing to a doline sinkhole chamber) and a Right Arm lined with stalactites and flowstones. Because a natural draft circulates clean, pine-filtered air through the cave at a constant 12°C year-round, remember to bring a warm fleece jacket before stepping inside.

2. Hıdırnebi Yaylası and Kayabaşı (1,600 Metres, "Where the Sky Meets the Earth")

Twenty minutes north of Çal Cave along a paved forest ridge road (or 35 km directly uphill from Akçaabat), the trees open onto the high grassy plateau of Hıdırnebi Yaylası (1,600 metres elevation). Because Hıdırnebi sits on an exposed mountain saddle directly facing the Black Sea 20 kilometres away, warm sea breezes rising up the valleys condense into a thick white carpet of clouds at 1,200 metres, leaving you standing on a sunny green meadow at Hıdırnebi looking down on top of a solid white ocean of clouds (especially at sunset). Stroll across the wildflower pastures around the rocky promontory of Hıdırnebi Kayası, stay for the traditional July Hıdırnebi Yayla Festival (where hundreds of locals link hands in giant horon circles in the mist), and dine on chargrilled lamb and bubbling kuymak at the plateau chalets.