Iran Mountains: Azadkuh and Atashkuh
This entry is part of a collections of posts giving information about Iran mountain and how to summit them. click here to know what these posts are. On this post, to be particular, we will give our mountaineers essential information about reaching, summiting and returning from mountains of Azadkuh and Atashkuh. Please consider that the trekking and driving times mentioned are estimated and might differ based on the road condition, traffic condition, physical fitness and ability of the mountaineers. What we have here is an average time. Cycling is a popular activity among tourists in mountains of Iran. If you want to spend your time off on Iran cycling tour in an exquisite and memorable Damavand tour, you can check out Atour’s website.
Atashkuh
This peak is in the northwest of Afjeh village. To get there from Tehran, we have a one-hour drive ahead of us. Around 100 meter after the village, there is a river that flows down from our left. There is path at the right side of the river. Our trekking begins from here. We are heading to the west. After half an hour of trekking, we turn right and head to the north. Two hours of trekking takes us to a peak known as Saka. We pass from Saka to the north and after two hours reach the Atashkuh Mountain. The whole summit will take around 4 to 5 hours. The return route is the same we took.
There is another way to the summit as well. On this passage, we head to the northeast from the Afjeh village. Outside the village, there is a river flowing from the north. We begin our trekking from the side route of the river. Twenty minutes later, we get to a mill known as Bonrud. You can see the Atashkuh from the mill. It is in the west of the valley. We head to the valley and pass through it, which will take around 3 hours. Then, we have an hour of trekking to the summit.
Azadkuh
There are three ways to reach Azadkuh peak. First, we have the southwest route through Varangrud. Then, the northeast route through Kelak Balaa. Last, the north route, through Nesen. To get to Varangrud, we have to head to Karaj and continue the Chalous road to Dizin and then to Varangrud fork. At the end, and after 4 kilometers, we will reach Varangrud village. We can start the trekking from the crossroad as well, which in that case, our trekking time increases by one hour.
Varangrud Route
From the Varangrud valley and from the rivers side-path, we start our trekking. We are heading to the east and we have to pass from the river. One hour later, we reach a destination overlooking a rocky valley called Shirkamar. The path through Shirkamar is visible; we go to the east and get to the Sootak meadow and Kamankuh neck. From the valley to the neck, we have around 3 hours of trekking. From the valley, we head to the east to the Chorn neck, which is below Azadkuh peak. There is another 2 hours here, which makes it a total of 6 hours from Varangrud to Chorn with 2 hours from Chorn to the summit.
Kelak Balaa Route
The second route is through Kelak Balaa. From the Chalous road, we head to Zanguleh Bridge. Here, we take Baladeh road to the villages of this section. This is the easiest way of summiting Azadkuh. On Kelak Balaa, we take the dirt road that is right beside the river. Around twenty minutes later, we reach a fork intersection. The left side will take us to the Choren neck, south side of the peak. It take us 3 hours to get from Kelak Balaa to Choren. Then, we have another 2 hours to Azadkuh peak.
Nesen Route
The last way is through Nesen. This route is very popular because of its scenic beauty. We take Baladeh road to Nesen and then head south. The river shows us the way. One hour later, we get to a destination where two rivers join. We turn left and keep trekking for two and half hour close to the peaks of Yakhchal and Sarmahu. Here we see a dirt route. With around two hours of trekking, we get to the Choren neck and then Azadkuh peak.
The southern peaks of Azadkuh, from east to west, are Sarmahu, Yakhchal and Kamankuh. To summit, one can take Choren or Kamankuh neck.