Turkey
Yusufeli
White-water rapids crash through a granite canyon where a medieval Georgian church perches on the cliff.
The Çoruh River tears through a granite canyon so steep the sun only reaches the water for a few hours each day. Rapids hammer between boulders, the spray catching the light, while somewhere above the treeline a 10th-century Georgian church clings to a ledge no sensible builder would have chosen. Yusufeli is Turkey at its most vertical and its most violent — water, rock, and gravity in constant negotiation.
Yusufeli in Artvin province sits at the confluence of the Çoruh and Barhal rivers in northeastern Turkey, surrounded by some of the country's most demanding white-water terrain. The Çoruh is consistently rated among Europe's top rafting rivers, with Grade IV and V rapids running through a canyon that rises over a thousand metres on either side. The valley is also home to a concentration of medieval Georgian churches — Dörtkilise, İşhan, and Barhal among them — built during the Bagratid dynasty and now marooned in remote villages accessible only by narrow mountain roads. The original town of Yusufeli was relocated in 2021 due to the Yusufeli Dam project, adding a layer of contemporary loss to a landscape already defined by geological upheaval.
Solo
The combination of world-class rapids and forgotten Georgian churches in deep mountain valleys rewards the independent traveller willing to go where infrastructure thins out.
Friends
Grade IV-V white water on the Çoruh River is a serious adrenaline trip. Add canyon camping, church-hunting by dirt road, and riverside trout to make it a multi-day expedition.
- The Çoruh River through the gorge runs Class IV-V white water for over 100km — considered one of the world's premier rafting rivers.
- A 12th-century Georgian church perches on a cliff above the canyon, reachable by a steep 20-minute path from the river.
- The surrounding mountains reach 3,500m+ and host ibex, bear, and wolf — the gorge creates an unusually biodiverse microclimate.
- The original town was partially flooded by a dam in 2021 — the new settlement above the waterline is still finding its character.
Çoruh Valley trout, grilled simply with butter and wild herbs beside the rapids.
Local bal — dark Caucasian honey from hives hung on cliff faces above the river.
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