Ucansu Waterfall close to Alanya

On the road again! A visit by a friend from Germany urges us to discover a place we have never heard of before. Our destination this time is Ucansu Waterfalls. 

Despite the bad weather with low hanging clouds and occasional showers, we decide to go up the Taurus Mountains for a photographic excursion and to see if the waterfall is worth seeing. Starting off at Alanya, we reach Konaklı using D400 highway. We turn towards Gündoğmuş when in town center (40 km). At times, the road gets steep and after negotiating many curves and detour, reach all the way to Gündoğmuş, passing Güzelbağ, Ortakonuş, Alara Creek Bridge and Ümütlü villages. We have already come across some superb locations that make photographic side of our journey a winner.

The road signs in Gündoğmuş are a bit confusing. However, we continue on towards Köprülü (35 km). This time a downhill drive over yet more bends and curves and redoubts take us to Çayırözü, Naragazi and Ortaköy in succession and finally we come across some signage about the waterfalls. And indeed: an impressive waterfall that springs out from many cracks and rifts on the face of the mountainous terrain falls about 40 meters below! Soon, we reach to the small recreation facility at the foot of the waterfall. The noise is overwhelming and we get our share of the froth flying about with the force of falling water. Indeed, whatever the condition of our clothing, we are hugely impressed by Uçansu Waterfalls.

We begin our comprehensive photographic activity immediately and soon find ourselves a nice tea garden for a bit of rest. It doe not take long to enter into a lively conversation with the manager of the facility. He mentions the tracking enthusiasts who choose Uçansu waterfalls as their departure point in their walks to the Tauruses and the surrounding Plato. We realize that it is yet another travel target that must be achieved.

He describes in trance the top of the waterfall, where he says a small lake is fed by melting snow that springs out through the rocky terrain surrounding the area. The water that spring from the rocks creates a numbing noise as it falls down into Uçansu Creek. The description we feel is sufficient to persuade us to climb up to the top of the waterfall to see the lake, as soon as possible. However, our foot gear is not designed for climbing purposes and therefore it becomes certain that we are not going to discover this natural beauty today.

Post Script: Although transportation is troublesome and at times adventurous, this is definitely one place every nature lover must see. Contrary to Manavgat Waterfall, you are guaranteed to see a real waterfall here. Not only that, there is no bus full of tourists about. This is a destination point for a full day excursion. Amid virgin nature, you are guaranteed a magnificent time. One finds the opportunity to savor superb views of snow covered peaks, green valleys and vistas of unimaginable visual proportions. Finally, it is a perfect spot for a picnic indeed.

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