Uludağ (pronounced oo loo daa) is a mountain of 2543 m (8343 ft) elevation which gives its name to a national park and ski resort. It rises just south of Bursa in the Southern Marmara Region of Turkey. The summit ridge is 150 km south of Istanbul, and can be seen from there on very crisp, clear days, but is usually hidden by mist and haze.

Uludağ especially to the east is a natural expanse of forests, hills, and bluffs where eagles soar; while to the west it's a busy resort with skiing in winter, and day-trippers from Bursa any fine day. So there's a dilemma in land management, one faced by many mountain districts. The Uludağ park is big enough for both, and has kept at bay the rash of weekend cottages that disfigure too many Alpine uplands.

Landscape and wildlife

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Uludağ
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D       162 0     −6 −15       176 0     −5 −14       218 6.3     −1 −13       46 122     5 −8       19 80     10 −4       0.6 47     15 0       0 40     17 4       0 43     17 3       1.5 74     12 −2       54 87     8 −6       124 32     1 −11       159 5.1     −5 −12 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation+Snow totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D       6.4 0     21 5       6.9 0     24 7       8.6 0.2     29 9       1.8 4.8     40 17       0.7 3.1     49 24       0 1.8     59 32       0 1.6     62 38       0 1.7     62 37       0.1 2.9     54 29       2.1 3.4     46 22       4.9 1.3     34 13       6.3 0.2     24 10 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation+Snow totals in inches

The north and west slopes rise through a series of plateaux. Those you pass by road are Karabelen at the park gate, and Kirazlıyayla above it. By cable car you pass Kadıyayla then Sarıalan. The routes meet at Kurbağa Kaya on the main plateau and accommodation area. South is the ridge with the main ski slopes. Beyond the ridge, the land falls away very sharply: this area is seldom accessed.

This change of elevation is reflected in distinct climate zones:

• from the outskirts of Bursa to 350 m is Mediterranean maquis scrub with laurel, juniper and olive.
• 350 m to 700 m are decidious forests dominated by chestnut trees, and from 700 m to 1500 m by beech.
• 1500 m to the tree line at 2100 m are conifers, chiefly Abies nordmanniana bornmuelleriana, a fir species endemic to Uludağ and nearby mountains.
• Above 2100 m are treeless alpine meadows.

Deer and raptor birds abound; bears lurk in the woods, see "Stay safe". You will be very, very lucky if you spot a wolf, Canis lupus pallipes. They prefer to keep well away from humans, but attack livestock and range over great distances. The park itself is barely big enough to support even a single wolf-pack, and they need to encounter other packs for healthy competition and out-breeding. Wolves are legally protected throughout Turkey, but try telling that to a farmer whose herd of goats has just been shredded.

40°7′12″N 29°9′18″E

Map of Uludağ

See Bursa for inter-city approaches by road, sea and air.

Cable cars (Teleferik) ascend from Bursa's upper district of Teferrüç, served by dolmuş and Bus 94 from downtown. The creaky old telecabins were replaced in 2014 by 8-person gondolas, with a car every 20 secs on an 8.8 km continuous single loop. The 40.1720529.083511 base station is at 395 m and there's a midway station (with no facilities) at 40.156629.08642 Kadıyayla. The ride continues to 40.13729.1063 Sarıalan ("yellow field") at 1634 m elevation. You can hike from there, but for the hotel strip and ski areas board the next teleferik to 40.1129.1424 Kurbağa Kaya ("frog rock") at 1870 m. The cars run daily 10:00-18:00 and the ride takes 30 min. In 2023, the fare is 490 TL return. Expect very heavy queuing in winter, with wait times of up to 1.5 hr especially when going back to Bursa towards end of the day.

The new system has an uplift capacity of 1400 people an hour, ten times the old, yet it didn't occur to them to fit ski-racks to the gondolas. So just as before, you can't take ski equipment or hotel luggage aboard, you can hire on the mountain but most visitors still need to drive up. This does not inhibit the flow of eco-guff on the lift company website.

By road follow D575 south from Çekirge in Bursa, which winds up for 22 km to the national park gate at Karabelen. It continues as a good tarmac road for 8 km to the turn-off to Sarıalan, then another 4 km brings you to the fork for the old or new hotel zones. In winter, snow chains may be required to proceed beyond the park gate. Roadside stalls will be delighted to sell you these for ten times the garage price, and they'll probably be made of liquorice. Even if the road is clear of snow, it may be icy in the shadow of the trees, so winter driving rules apply.

Dolmuşes run from Imperial Gate in Bursa and take 50 min to the hotel zone in Uludağ. They run whenever they're full, and a one-way fare is 13.5 TL. A taxi for four might cost 150 TL.

The road past the park gate continues south and eventually joins D230 Kütahya - Balıkesir highway, so you might drive up from that side and avoid Bursa.

The park fee^{[dead link]} in 2022 is 14 TL for a motorbike, 21 TL for a car or truck (regardless of number of occupants), 60-190 TL for a minibus or bus, 20 TL for a tent and 30 TL for a caravan.

There are 2 gondola lifts, 9 chairlifts and 13 T-bar tows. The most extensive ski area is south of the new hotel area and Volfram, on the north-facing slope of the main ridge. You can connect from there to the Fatin Tepe area above the old hotel district. Across the valley from there lies a smaller area.

• On the road from Bursa pause to admire the ancient tree at Inkaya and the tomb of Dolubaba at Tuzaklı. Until the 19th century a monastery stood near Inkaya but it's completely disappeared, as have the two dozen others ranged around the mountain valleys.
• 40.11929.1421 Çobankaya ("shepherd's rock") is a giant granite boulder along a lane 1 km north of the cable car top station and new hotel area. There's camping and picnic areas here and forest trails.
• 40.14229.1362 Bakacak is a forested plateau reached by continuing north from Çobankaya. It has a great outlook north over Bursa and the Marmara Sea, and the lakes to the west. Softaboğan waterfall roars off the edge of the plateau.
• 40.10329.1513 Volfram, meaning wolfram or tungsten, is an old mining area 1 km south up a road from the new hotel area. Ski lifts ascend from here and it's a good starting point for the ascent of Uludağ. The mine was active 1974-1989 and its abandoned buildings still stand. Tungsten is a valuable metal for its high tensile strength and high melting point. It was brought from the depths by the fault movements, in the form of skarn or scheelite (calcium tungstate CaWO₄). This fluoresces under UV, so you know when you've found pay-dirt.
• 40.08729.2064 Saklı Lake is a picturesque glacial tarn, one of several scraped out along the route to Uludağ summit.
• 40.0729.2225 Uludağ summit is called Kartaltepe - "Eagle Hill". It dominates the local scenery but can be elusive from afar: mists arise once the morning sun lights upon the frost and dew, while the city below generates its own haze. The peak is 7 km east of the hotel area and in summer is a simple hike along the ridge, but be prepared for mist. You might want a Go-Pro, as there's a line of peaks all at around 2400 m, and on a dull day it might not be obvious which summit you've reached.

• Migros in 1. Oteller is open daily 08:00-22:00, and in 2. Oteller is same hours except W and Su 10:00-22:00.
• Kiosks and grocery stores on the mountain charge about three times what you'd pay elsewhere.

• Sarıalan has a cluster near the cable car station, including Orman Köşkleri, Palabıyık, Jebel, Abu Shanab, Taş Konağı Tesisleri and Gencosman. The sign Kendin Pişir Kendin Ye means cook it yourself, you buy your meat by the kilo and rent a grill and charcoal and set to. "Et mangal" means meat grill, and cafe signs in Arabic are pitching to the many Saudi visitors.
• Hotels are full-board, which doesn't leave custom for free-standing restaurants, but several will serve walk-in non-residents.
• Volfram cafe / restaurant is open 24 hours.

• Water: Uludağ is a popular brand of bottled mineral water. Erikli (a village east above Zeyniler) is the source of another, now owned by Nestlé.
• The cafés and bars are within the hotels and are expensive. Those that welcome non-residents include Zilly next to Grand Yazıcı in the old hotel strip, and Ruby 2543 above the new.

• Fog or mist can descend suddenly out of a clear blue sky, and make it hard to stay on the trail. Take a compass bearing on your route before you lose sight of landmarks. You did bring one, right, and know how to use it?
• Bears in these woods are Eurasian brown bears, Ursus arctos arctos, with a round head and yellow-brown fur. They show no mercy to unguarded sheep but are very unlikely to attack humans unless cornered or threatened. The crucial thing is not to surprise them, and when camping not to have open food that might attract them. Also beware bear traps, especially near villages whose residents value their livestock. They're wire nooses, totally illegal but easily bought or fashioned - report any you find. If a bear is caught, you'll hear it shrieking from afar, call the Jandarma on 112 and they'll release it safely.

There is a patchy mobile signal from all Turkish carriers along the roads into the resort, and you might even get 4G. As of Feb 2022, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.

By road or cable car you have to backtrack to Bursa. Hiking routes and poorly maintained dirt tracks lead to remote villages in the eastern and southern foothills.

Ends at ← Bursa ←	N  S	→ END
Teferrüç (Bursa) ← Kadıyayla ←	N  S	→ END (Sarıalan → Kurbağa Kaya)