AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Karasar Geçidi is a formidable mountain pass at 1,939 metres in Sivas Province, eastern Central Anatolia. Carved into the highlands that separate the Kangal plain from the iron-rich mountains around Divriği, it demands respect from every driver, motorcyclist and cyclist who tackles its long, steep gradients on the D-260 state road.↗↗
Few travellers come to Karasar Geçidi for a single landmark—the attraction is the crossing itself. The climb stretches roughly 27.6 km, climbing from the Yalnızsöğüt plain on the western side up to the pass and dropping toward Güneyevler to the east, with sections hitting an 11% maximum gradient. The reward is raw, treeless highland panoramas, winding valleys and the dramatic descent into the Divriği basin with its rust-coloured mining hills.↗↗
The Road Experience
The pass sits on Turkey's D-260, a 977-kilometre state road that threads from Afyonkarahisar in the Aegean all the way to Erzurum in the far east. At Karasar, the road leaves the open plateau and climbs relentlessly through a barren, wind-scoured highland landscape. Turkish road-safety media have included Karasar Geçidi among the country's most dangerous mountain routes—not because of cliffs or hairpins, but because of its steepness, exposure to sudden weather shifts and road-surface wear that punishes unprepared vehicles.
