Asarlık Tepeler Natural Monument

About

Asarlık Tepeler Natural Monument is a 52-hectare site at the Asarlık locality between the villages of Danişment and Oklalar in the Nallıhan district of Ankara, declared on 22 August 1994. Shaped by the erosion of clay layers of differing resistance, the hills are rare examples of the landforms known as cuestas. Lying at 1,091 metres within the Central Anatolian climate belt, the site is well suited to education and research in stratigraphy and geomorphology. It is 21 km from Nallıhan and 157 km from Ankara, and is reached by private vehicle via the Seben road, which branches off the Nallıhan–Bolu (D140) highway near Dereköy. Researchers have recorded 141 taxa from 37 plant families here, 11 of them endemic. The critically endangered Oxytropis argyroleuca grows only here and on Sarıçalı Dağı to the west, and the vulnerable Melilotus bicolor is also present. Black pine, Grecian juniper and prickly juniper are among the other plants. Animals observed include the nose-horned viper, spur-thighed tortoise, mole rat, long-legged buzzard and wallcreeper. There are no facilities; the site has only a walking route, and scientific work requires a permit.