Cappadocia Endurance Ride
It's more than just a riding tour, it's the best way to discover the wild Cappadocia: a combination of a spectacular trail ride, an orienteering ride and an endurance ride. It's a trail, it's a race, it's a game. Embark on an exciting adventure through a breathtaking landscape and follow a new and unique trail. The Great Ride is an equestrian experience with additional games: Four teams of riders compete against each other, and sometimes it's not clear who has the treasure. It's about horsemanship, orienteering, hide and seek, endurance, mountain trail, treasure hunt, interaction with local villages and team spirit. The winner will not be the fastest team, but the smartest team that can keep the treasure to the end. The nights will be spent in comfortable camps, surrounded by horses and around a warm, traditional fire. It will be an incredible adventure for the riders and their horses.

Cappadocia in gallop
From the ranch between Urgup and Ortahisar, in the heart of the national park, the progressive route takes you on a 6-day tour through Cappadocia. From the rural Cappadocia of the south to the most beautiful valleys of the north, fantastic rock formations, lush gorges, plateaus, steppe-like landscapes and vineyards and orchards make up a surprisingly varied route. Along the way, the villages reflect the Anatolian way of life, while frescoed churches and other troglodytic treasures bear witness to the region's rich past. Our journey takes place entirely within the national park.
Accommodation is in charming guesthouses in the most beautiful villages of Cappadocia. There is the option to book a hot air balloon ride over the surreal landscape of Cappadocia at sunrise during the week, as well as a Turkish bath experience (steam bath and massage in the traditional hammam of Urgup at the end of the week). This trail is designed for fit, “active” and advanced riders. The route includes difficult passages where you have to dismount from your horse and lead it, sometimes over steep paths. The effort is rewarded by breathtaking views, but a good physical condition is essential.

Black Mountain Trail
From Cappadocia to the Taurus Mountains, past the bird paradise of Lake Sultansazli.
An incredible route that connects different landscapes: Cappadocia, the wetlands of Sultansazli, the high mountains of Karagol (2080 m high lake) and the beautiful gorge of Kazikli with a final camp in the famous Emli Valley. Fitness is also required of the rider: some paths in the black mountains have to be covered on foot. This trail is a great opportunity for those who enjoy a sporty ride on lively Arabian horses through the various landscapes of unspoiled Cappadocia.

Itinerary

Cappadocia Endurance Ride

Day 1: Sunday (arrival day):
Arrival at Kayseri airport on Sunday. The participants will be taken to the hotel in Urgup where they will meet the riding guides.

Day 2: Monday: First day on horseback
After breakfast, the teams will be formed. You will meet your horse and start a two-hour ride with your horse, your team and your guide. Each team chooses its own route. You can see the riders of the other teams in the distance. You will get to know your horse. The first long gallop takes you to Mount Avlak, which offers a magnificent panoramic view of Cappadocia. The rocky hills could serve as the perfect back for a western movie... You arrive at the lunch location, where the team will cook for you in a remote and wild gorge. After lunch, all riders gather and the rules of the trail are explained. In the afternoon, you will ride through a wide valley where the ghost village of Karain is located. Your team has three hours to compete with the others. When you reach the evening camp, the horses wil be tied and you can watch the horses while enjoying a drink. Afterwards there is dinner and the day's scoring, and you have to develop a strategy for the next day.

Day 3: 6 hours in the saddle with numerous riding options:
You start the day on a stony plateau, through fields and meadows of the Anatolian plateau (1600 meters above sea level), with a view of the Erciyes volcano with its snow-capped peak.
It is up to you to decide which route to take, around Hodul Daha or downhill through the Damsa Valley.
You reach the camp in the green and peaceful Erdemli valley. Dinner around the large campfire, rankings for the day and strategy for the next few days are discussed here.

Day 4: Now that your team has become accustomed to the rules and can assess the level of the other participants, the day has come for an exciting competition. If you miss the entrance to a valley, it could cost you your position. Explore numerous remote gorges, underground villages and churches that you should not miss... Vigilance will help you to victory! Later, the landscape changes to wide open spaces where shepherds lead their flocks, supported by the impressive Kangal dogs. After a final gallop across the plain, you reach the camp above the Soganli Valley.

Day 5: Vineyards, orchards, valleys and remote villages. The labyrinth of Cappadocia could make your arrival at the evening camp a challenge. Will you choose one of the easiest or a more demanding route? Lunch at the Keslik monastery. Overnight in the remote underground town of Golgoli.

Day 6: As you reach the northern part of the national park, this long riding day will introduce you to the most scenic and sculptural valleys of Cappadocia: Zemi, Pigeon, Love, and White Valleys. Overnight stay near the village of Uchisar.

Day 7: After rising early to watch the spectacle of hot air balloons taking off nearby, the day begins with a long gallop on an open plateau overlooking the labyrinth of colorful valleys. Today's ride is a 40 km endurance race. The Red Valley, the Boz Dag, the Devrent Valley and all the beautiful, challenging valleys are explored. Arrival at the farm in the Uzengui Valley. Overnight stay at the hotel in Urgup.

Day 8: After breakfast, departure from Kayseri airport.

Cappadocia in galopp


Day 1: Arrival in Kayseri and transfer to the hotel. Dinner together and tour briefing.

Day 2: In the morning you will be driven to the ranch to get to know your horse and familiarize yourself with the riding equipment. You will have time to try out your horse on a 1 km practice trail around the ranch. The trail begins with a one-hour ride through the lush vegetation and along the stream of the Uzengi Gorge. The villagers will cook lunch for you on a wood fire at the foot of the troglodytic citadels of dovecotes carved into the rugged rock faces. After lunch you ride in the river Uzengi, very fast, the first long gallop takes you to Mount Avlak, with a magnificent panoramic view of Cappadocia. The rocky hills could be the perfect back for a western movie... In the afternoon we ride through a huge valley where the ghost village of Karain is located. Overnight stay in Akkoy.

Day 3: You start this day with a gallop through the fields of the Anatolian plateau (1600 m high): Fields of barley, wheat, oats and beans. You descend for 20 minutes on a steep single trail to Lake Damsa. Once you arrive in Keslik Monasteri, the villagers cook lunch for you on a wood fire. You ride past a valley with fairy chimneys and overlook the bare hills surrounding the lake (in hot weather you can take a dip in the lake with the horses). You gallop along paths of soft, red clay that lead you through a hidden gorge to the village of Ayvali, where you spend the night in your hotel.

Day 4: In the morning, you set off at a fast gallop to visit the underground village of Golgoli. Your sure-footed horse will take you off the beaten track on a scenic route through rock formations, vineyards and orchards surrounded by table mountains. Arrival in the center of the old Greek village of Mustafapasa and sightseeing on horseback. You climb a picturesque plateau where you have the opportunity to gallop your horse again. After a short ride, you will reach your hotel in Ayvali.

Day 5: As you leave the hotel on horseback, you can enjoy a varied landscape with narrow paths, small gorges, farmland and the wide expanses of Subasi, where shepherds lead their flocks. You sneak through the lush, narrow gorge of a remote village before galloping along wide sandy tracks. Visit a second and different type of underground village: “Kirkule”. A long gallop takes us through vineyards and orchards and over rolling hills of white tufa to the fairy chimneys of the Gomeda Valley, then more riding fun awaits in the narrow passages and arches of the Gumuslu Gorge. You ride uphill to reach one of our best restaurants for lunch: “Babayan evi”. Very good and healthy local food. From this picturesque village you will start to climb the “twin hills” of Cappadocia to reach a viewpoint that encompasses the north of Cappadocia and the towering rock fortress of Uchisar. On the way to the village, you can admire the multi-colored rock formations of the famous Pigeon Valley and the picturesque fairy chimneys of Uchisar. You reach your guesthouse with panoramic views on horseback and enjoy a drink on the terrace.

Day 6: Optional hot air balloon ride in the early morning: Ride the wind over the magical landscape of Cappadocia at sunrise. You will then ride through the rock tunnels, arches and small forests of the spectacular 4 km long canyon known as the Green Valley. You make a detour through the famous Valley of Love with its gigantic phallic rock formations, then into the Valley of Swords and the Red Valley. With its citadels of red, pink and ochre rock and its beautiful troglodytic churches, this is the most spectacular ensemble of geological formations in Cappadocia. You can have lunch in a cave café in an old monastery. In the afternoon you continue your exploration tour through the Red Valley and the Rose Valley and then ride out into the fields surrounded by the rocky hills of Northern Cappadocia. The winding paths of the Valley of the Shepherds take you on a long gallop back to your guesthouse in Uchisar, just in time to admire Northern Cappadocia in the light of the sunset.

Day 7: You arrive in another beautiful gorge, called “White Valley” after the color of its rock. You ride through stone labyrinths and lush vegetation and pass the impressive fairy chimneys of another valley of love. You cross the picturesque village of Cavusin, descend for a short walk and reach the Boz daha plateau. You gallop along the ridge overlooking the Red Valley on one side and the Devrent Valley with its strangely shaped fairy chimneys on the other. You enjoy more long gallops through the labyrinth of wooded, sandy paths of the Urgüp Valley before reaching the Pancarlik Valley with its multi-colored rock formations, gardens and orchards. You return to the ranch in the afternoon. After tea on our terrace, you have the option of heading to the hammam in Urgüp for a relaxing steam bath and massage. Short transfer back to your guesthouse in Urgup and farewell dinner.

Day 8: After breakfast departure to Kayseri airport.


Black Mountain Trail

This trail contains true adventure and is designed for those who love the outdoors and sleeping in a tent or under the stars. Accommodation is in comfortable camps, with a guest house in the middle of the week. At the end of each day, you reach a different location on horseback, where you set up camp in the middle of nature and surrounded by magnificent views.
From Cappadocia, you ride for six days through the red valley to the Sultansazli Lake, which lies high in the mountains. The guesthouse is also located here in the middle of the week. We then continue through the Black Mountains to the next lake: Black Lake. We continue through the Emli Valley, along a fresh river. On the way you will experience exciting views again and again, from time to time passages have to be crossed on foot. If the plains allow it, fast gallops are taken. At the end you ride to Kayseri, where the airport is located.

Subject to change!

Accomodation
Cappadocia Endurance Ride: Camp, first and last night hotel/guesthouse
Cappadocia in galopp: Accommodation is in charming guesthouses in the most beautiful villages of Cappadocia.
Black Mountain Trail: Accommodation is in comfortable camps, with a guesthouse in the middle of the week.

Saddle & Tack: English saddles and bridles. Comfortable trail riding saddles, saddle bags are provided.

Experience: Only for very experienced riders with several years of trail experience and a good level of fitness (also on foot, as some of the routes involve leading horses due to the difficult terrain). Riding time approx. 5-6 hours per day.. From climbing passages to long, fast gallops, everything is included.
Strict rider weight max. 85 kg! All participants will be weighed on site.

Horses: Arabians and Arabian mixes: reliable, willing to go, persistent and well trained. Arabian horses are particularly sensitive and eager to go and therefore require riders with a firm hand and a certain amount of empathy.