Driving the wild Ovit Dagi Gecidi
Ovit Dağı Geçidi is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 2.690m (8,825ft) above the sea level located in the İkizdere district of Rize Province in Turkey. It’s one of the highest paved roads of the country.
Set high in the northeastern part of the country, near Erzurum province, the road to the summit is totally paved. It’s called D925 (Rize İspir Yolu). The pass is 18.2 km (11.3 miles) long and hits a 16% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps.
Access to the pass is typically open all year round, but winter weather may cause restrictions and closures due to dangerous weather conditions. Due its location, it’s possible to see snow on the summer.
With extreme weather conditions at the summit, in 2018, the challenging road was bypassed by a 14.3 km long tunnel called Ovit Tüneli.