Turkyie D915 by Bicycle

This is a guide to cycle the "famous" D915 from Of on the black sea to Bayburt in the south crossing the Soğanlı Pass. All the information is from our ride at the 5th, 6th and 7th of July 2025.

Starting in Of the road is divided with two lanes for each directions. It follows all along more or less directly the river Solaklı Çayı. Until Cumapazarı there are no difficulties. Shortly after there is a first tunnel (T1 Tüneli, only direction south a tunnel), which we cycled through. As we came to the next tunnel (T2 Tüneli) right before Dernekpazarı, we crossed over the portal to get to the small road direction Gülen. We camped after the restaurant right beside the old road.

It is possible to cycle up the old road and then cross the northbound part of the main road to get directly to the town of Dernekpazarı without having to pass. Like this you also don‘t have to cycle trough the other tunnels until Çaykara.

In Çaykara there are some shops (for example A101 and a bakery and a lot more).

Until the junction leading to Uzungöl the road has 2 lanes. One northbound, one southbound with mostly a small shoulder to cycle on. At the junction the main road goes to Uzungöl, the D915 goes right (not like on the map). The big blue signs only show Köknar and Karaçam. Bayburt is only a smaller white one.
bvb
There is a sign that the road is closed between kilometer 49 and 57. It seems to be there the entire year and was definitely not true. There was no road closure ond the way at all.

With this junction the trafic on the D915 falls to almoste none.
The way to Köknar is sometimes pretty steep, probably the steepest parts of this ride.

The road through Köknar is narrow and winds trough the houses. There is a roadsign to Bayburt which can be misunterstood. Stay on the higher road. Don't cycle down to the river.
In Köknar there is a market in wich you can get most of the stuff. (We took way to much food with us.) There is also water and, of course, a Cay-Evi.

Shortly after (we slept another night at a roadworkers camp, we took it slow because of an injured knee) you will get to Karaçam, where there is more or less the same stuff as in Köknar: Cay-Evi, Market, Mosque, Toilet, Water.
Also in Karaçam there is a road sign which leads to Byburt, buts its not the D915. Stay on the slightly bigger higher road and check your maps.

After the town the road is still paved and and not that steep. The next four switchbacks are also paved and easy to ride. Maximum 1 Kilometer after the fourth switchback the pavement ends and the road is now hardpacked gravel. At around 1600m above sealevel the road crosses some streams and one side of the road was quite washed out. There is a touristic cafe with a big flag of turkie.

washed out road

At 1700m, where the road switches to the orher side of the valley, there are some buildings and some newer construction of a hut which looked touristic. Probably there will be some cafe or so. There is also a toilet.

Afterwards the iconic part of the road begins. 13 switchbacks in one steep hill. But the steepnes of the road stays moderate (max. around 6%, exept very short parts around the corners). The switchbacks have a numbering counted from both sides.

on top oft the switchbacks

view out the valley

You will get the best view (to take pictures) after the 13th switchback at the part where the road is partly carved in the rock.

After this lookout point you will cycle more to the west and the landscape changes rapidly. The hills get rounder and less rocky.

After two more switchbacks you will start to see the big wind turbines. Around 1 or 1.5km before the pass the pavement starts again. The road gets pretty flat and with good wind you can almot sail to the top. (2330m ond most maps. On our GPS altitude model ~2370)

The ride down is all paved and a fast downhill. You will get trough the village of Kılıçkaya where the road is slightly smaller, but the rest is wide and in good conditions. There was a strech of around 1.5km after Kılıçkaya where there are construction works of the road. The rest to Bayburt is easy. Just follow the signs and the road.

Also Check out travelblog post about this road.