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Red Valley Hike & Sunset Viewpoint in Cappadocia: Complete Guide

Red Valley Hike & Sunset Viewpoint in Cappadocia: Complete Guide

Red Valley is up there with my favorite spot in Cappadocia. The Sharp sandstone ridges glow a deep, vibrant red as the sun burns into the unique landscape in the last moments of the sunset each night. There is a great trail loop or you can drive straight to the sunset viewpoint to chill at the cafe or hike to the top of the flag viewpoint. 

RED VALLEY IN CAPPADOCIA

In this blog post, I will share everything you need to know about visiting Red Valley in Cappadocia.

HOW TO GET TO THE RED VALLEY

There are a few different ways to reach the Red Valley Trail. You may also want to skip the trail and go straight to the Red Valley sunset viewpoint. I’ll outline all of your options below and then tell you what I did.

  • Drive for 15 minutes from Goreme town and go straight to the Red Valley sunset viewpoint. No hiking is needed.
  • Drive to the Rose Valley Trailhead and begin the Rose & Red Valley hike combination route.
  • Drive to the Meskendir Trailhead and take that trail to the Rose Valley trailhead and continue on to the Red Valley Trail.

We took the third option and began walking from Goreme Town in the heat and it was set to be a 3km walk to the start of the Meskendir Trail, which would then connect us to the Rose Valley Trail and finally to the Red Valley trail. However, as so often happened in Goreme and Cappadocia, we hitch-hiked our way to the start of the trail.

You could drive directly to the Rose Valley Trailhead and then begin the trail from there but I highly recommend starting with the moderately easy Meskendir Trail that leads you there. 

A good landmark to find the trailhead for the Meskendir Trail is the Kaya Camping Ground, which is just past Goreme Open-Air Museum. When you drive towards Kaya Camping from Goreme, you will find Kaya Camping on the left. The first road after Kaya Camping is the road you want and there is a sign on the wall, which I have pictured below to make sure you find the trailhead. Throughout the trail, there are signs saying Rose Valley and Red Valley, which means you are going the right way as they are at the end of the trail essentially.

 

If you want to read more about this part of the adventure you can check out my Meskendir Trail blog post or the Rose Valley Hike blog post.

If you want to go directly to the Red Valley sunset viewpoint. I have pinned it on the map below so you can drive straight there. The entrance fee is $1.50 USD.  It is marked on the map below as a ‘Sunset view point’ and as you can see it is just above the Rose Valley.

 

BEST RENTAL CAR COMPANY IN TURKEY

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TOURS THAT INCLUDE RED VALLEY

There is an awesome tour: Full-Day Cappadocia Tour, which is an epic day of adventures including the following.

  • Visit Red Valley, renowned as one of the most spectacular valleys of Cappadocia
  • Hike through the colorful and breathtaking fairy chimneys of Red Valley and descend to underground cities
  • Walkthrough narrow corridors and discover numerous rooms and storage carved from the soft volcanic stone
  • Cavusin Castle visit
  • Explore Pigeon Valley and its picturesque sceneries as well as the towering Ortahisar Rock Castle

 Book your tour: Full-Day Cappadocia Tour

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Full-Day Cappadocia Tour

  • Visit Devrent Valley
  • Customizable
  • Hotel Pickup

MY EXPERIENCE IN RED VALLEY

Firstly, we turned into the Rose Valley using the following sign to help you find your way. As I mentioned earlier I began my day on the Meskendir Trail and then continued on to the Rose Valley before reaching the Red Valley. You can click either of those links to read about that part of the adventure. But, for this blog post, we will focus on the Red Valley section of the adventure.

The Red Valley Trail begins just after the church at the top of the Rose Valley trail, where there is a small cafe and historic cave church. After climbing up the stairs into the church, we found some incredible paintings on the wall and they were in great condition. It was similar to the church paintings hundreds line up every day to see at Goreme Open-Air Museum. Below the church is a small cafe where you can buy water, fresh orange juice, and snacks.

From this point on you walk another five minutes before the Rose Valley Trail loops back around the other side of the valley on the opposing ridge. We obviously didn’t double back and continued up the trail and now entered the Red Valley Trail. 

The trail now winds through the cave dwellings and rock formations across the valley and up the hill. Although it is called the Red Valley, there are several vibrant, yellow rock formations that were something only visible on a few trails in Cappadocia.

We made our slowly up the hill in the hot Turkish sun, hoping the viewpoint was within touching distance, and to our delight, the distance from the church to the Red Valley Sunset Viewpoint was only about 20 minutes. It was the shortest section out of the three trails including the Meskendir Trail and Rose Valley trails.

The final section of the trail is carved out through the ridges and gives epic views all the way to Uchisar town and Uchisar Castle. If you want to read about my adventure from Goreme, hiking all the way through Love Valley to Uchisar castle, you can check that out here.

The Sunset Viewpoint is quite touristy. There are 2-3 cafes, Instagram swings, wedding shoots, beanbags, and dinner tables. It definitely is a bit of a showstopper. We arrived early before the sunset and enjoyed a shisha and some snacks as we waited for the golden hour. Despite being a remote location and a tourist spot, the prices were on par with cafes back in town.

When the golden hour began to arrive we walked back five minutes along the trail to the edge of the valley where all of the most intense ridges are. The valley is like the back of a stegosaurus with ridges winding in every direction.

Once the red glow begins it truly is a sight to behold and we were blessed with a great sunset. Whether you take a seat in the cafe, head up the hill to the flag viewpoint or wander down on the Red Valley hiking trail, there is no bad place to enjoy the red glow amongst the ridges and all the way to Uchisar!

THE 3 MOST POPULAR CAPPADOCIA TOURS

If you are up for a quieter spot to enjoy the sunset, look behind the cafes and you will see a hill with a flag on top. There are a few 15-minute trails to the top that are quite steep but also very safe. I drove back a second night to experience the sunset from on top of this flag viewpoint and it was as equally impressive as the lower area. There was just one other person at the top compared to the 200 people, cars, buses, and cafes at the busy sunset viewpoint. 

WHERE TO STAY IN GOREME, CAPPADOCIA

Where I stayed: Design Cave Suites Cappadocia – I was lucky enough to stay at the Design Cave Suites in Goreme. The location was great and I walked to all attractions. The rooftop garden was awesome for sunrise balloon watching. The buffet breakfast spread was amazing as were the cave-style room designs.

Best Cave Hotel with Pool: Local Cave House Hotel– This cave hotel rose to fame because of its incredible pool. Make sure you click the link and check out how epic the pool backdrop is, with those classic Cappadocia rock formations in the background and traditional cave rooms it is a top pick.

Cave Hotel with Best Roof View (and dogs): Sultan Cave SuitesThis cave hotel became famous because of its epic rooftop area for sunrise viewing. Guests can lay out on traditional pillows and carpets while watching the hot-air balloons flying above. The hotel dog might also join you for a photoshoot on the roof!

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT THE REST OF MY CAPPADOCIA BLOG POSTS?

Click on one of the articles below to check out all of the places you should visit while in Cappadocia!

The big guide! This post has all of my favorite activities, which I personally did while in Cappadocia for ten days: 24 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN CAPPADOCIA

The hiking guide! Find out about all of the best hikes in Cappadocia with details, directions and lots of photos: 8 AWESOME HIKES IN CAPPADOCIA

Thinking about flying in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia? Read this first: CAPPADOCIA HOT AIR BALLOONS: THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU FLY

Have you heard about the castles in Cappadocia? Check these out:

THE UCHISAR CASTLE VIEWPOINT

ORTAHISAR CASTLE VIEWPOINT

CAVUSIN CHURCH, VALLEY & CASTLE

Not sure where is the best region to stay? Wondering which hotel provides the best value? Check out this guide that will help you decide: WHERE TO STAY IN CAPPADOCIA: THE BEST HOTELS & HOSTELS

OR… I write a post about the 12 BEST CAVE HOTELS IN CAPPADOCIA that you might find interesting.

I’ve written a blog post for almost all of the places I’ve visited while in Cappadocia. You can find every single one of these articles right here: CAPPADOCIA ARCHIVES

Patrick H

Tuesday 21st of June 2022

Hi Jack, great content, but I am afraid the marker for the sunset point has moved. It cannot be at this location.

Ra Ribeiro

Saturday 7th of November 2020

Awesome content! Thank you for the tips and keep up with the good adventures.