Trabzon / Bayburt · Turkey
Derebaşı Bends
D915Of to Bayburt
Turkey’s most extreme mountain road climbs 13 consecutive guardrail-free hairpins through Mount Soğanlı, with sheer drops of hundreds of metres and gradients hitting 17%.
The D915 runs from the Black Sea town of Of across the Pontic Mountains to Bayburt, crossing the Soğanlı Pass at 2,330 m. Its centrepiece is the Derebaşı section near Çaykara: 13 ferociously tight switchbacks compressed into roughly 5 km with no barrier between the road and a sheer face. The surface is mixed asphalt and gravel and is closed for around eight months a year by snow.
Scenery
Where it runs
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Character
Steeper than 9 in 10 roads here in the catalogue.
Elevation
under 4%4–8%over 8%7 – 2,569 mHazards
- no guardrails on cliff sections
- gradients to 17%
- loose gravel and eroding edges
- heavy truck traffic
- closed late October to late June by snow
- fog near Soğanlı Pass
See the typical season and live conditions for the high passes ›
Sources: Road geometry © OpenStreetMap contributors
Nearby roads
The closest great drives to Derebaşı Bends.