Babak Fort

I have had the opportunity to visit several castles, and among them, this one stood out as the most remarkable to me. Situated atop the highest altitude in an area adorned with plains and mountains, the castle boasts a commanding presence. Upon arrival, one is greeted by the gentle whispers of the breeze and the melodic chirping of birds. The view is simply breathtaking, surpassing even the most captivating of photographs. This is the very place where Babak Khorramdin valiantly resisted the Arabs for two decades.

I highly recommend paying a visit to this extraordinary locale. The journey to the castle from the parking area typically takes around 45 minutes. The journey to the castle from the parking area typically entails a moderate hike along a gently ascending path. All that's required are suitable footwear and a bottle of water to ensure a comfortable experience.

The most important thing you should know about it is there are different ways to get to the top if you like hiking and have time to can start from the hiking start point and it will take about 3 hours to get to the castle but if you don't have time you can pay the cars and they will take you higher then you should hike about 45min to 1 hours to the castle.
If you have time I recommend you to get there by yourself because the cars are not very good and normally they charge you too much for a short distance.

The more than a millinuim-old castle is a magnificent place to visit, a reminiscent of one of the most well-known resistence movements in the history of Iran; besides the scenery of Arasbaran forest, the hills, and the 400-600 meter deep valleys is breathtaking. You can enjoy all this only if you choose the right time to climb. Spring is probably good toming and to avoid heat I suggest very early in the morning right after an exciting night stay in nomad tents (called Oba) and a local breakfast. Another option is late afternoon but remember that you will need to spare at least four hours before dark. The easiest way to climb is to hire an off-road car, which is easy to find and not very expensive, and start your ascend from the first station to save energy. The hike is going to take you like 50-70 minutes depending on your pace. You can find a cafe, drinkable water, and toilets on your way up but prefebaly carry your own bottle of water and some biscuits. Don't even think of the climb without a camera; I'm sure you'll like the view.

Pāpak Fort or Babak Castle, also known as the Immortal Castle or Republic Castle, is a large citadel and National Symbol of Iranians on the top of a mountain in the Arasbaran forests, which is located 6 km southwest of Kalibar City in northwestern Iran. It has been identified as the stronghold of Pāpak Khorramdin, the leader of the Khurramites in Azarbaijan who fought the Islamic caliphate of Abbassids. Iranian Azarbaijanis gather at Babak Castle during the first weekend in July for the annual commemoration of Babak Khorramdin.
Babak Fort or Babak Castle also known as the Immortal Castle or Republic Castle, is a large citadel and National Symbol of Iranians on the top of a mountain in the Arasbaran forests, which is located 6 km southwest of Kalibar City in East Azerbaijan province ,northwestern Iran. It has been identified as the stronghold of Bābak Khorramdin, the leader of the Khurramites in Azarbaijan who fought the caliphate of Abbassids.
Bābak Khorram-Din (Formally known as "Pāpak" meaning "Young Father") was one of the main Persian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinān ("Those of the joyous religion"), which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate.The castle, built on 2300-2600 meter heights, surrounded by gorges as deep as 400 to 600 meters, is believed to belong to the Parthian dynasty and modified under the Sasanid dynasty. To reach the castle, one has to trek a tortuous and narrow passageway and then cross a corridor-shaped temple, 200 meters in lengths. This castle has been repaired by The Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran.

Babak Fort of East Azarbaijan

The ascent to the Castle is not for the infirm, elderly, or those afraid of heights. A series on long, and in places, broken steps lead the traveler to the top of a hill from where there are several choices for further ascent. The easiest is straight in front of the steps and consists of a long dirt track. As there are no sign posts towards the Castle, walk towards the peak on your left hand side but do not leave the dirt track. You will need hiking boots, a sun hat, plenty of water, and at least 3 hours for the climb, and 2 hours for the descent. At the end of the dirt track, turn left onto the rocky mountain side, and beware of slipping. The first of sign of the ruins will appear on your left, but do not become too complacent: the actual Castle is another 2 peaks march away. The first peak offers spectacular views of the Castl. After ascending a second peak, with its own ruins, you will see the Castle perched on top a jagged cliff. Ascending the Castle steps is a dangerous process, as there are sheer cliffs on your right hand side, and no protective rails or fences to prevent a fall of several hundred meters.

Babak Fort of East Azarbaijan

Take extreme care of the edge, and hold on to your children. Once you have climbed the pinnacle of the cliff, you will truly appreciated the amazing effort in building and maintaining a fort at this altitude. Unfortunately, you will also have to tolerate the graffiti on the ancient walls, and young people playing chicken on top of the Castle walls. Under no circumstances should you even consider climbing these walls: first, this can damage the ancient structure, and second, a fall of several thousands of meters would lead to certain death. Nevertheless, the experience afterward is well worth the strenuous climb: the surrounding Arasbaran oak forest, jagged cliffs, mountains in the distance, and the history of the place combine to create one of Iran's most beautiful vistas. The castle, built on 2300-2600 meter heights, surrounded by gorges as deep as 400 to 600 meters, is believed to belong to the Parthian dynasty and modified under the Sasanid dynasty. To reach the castle, one has to trek a tortuous and narrow passageway and then cross a corridor-shaped temple, 200 meters in lengths.

Very lovely, just try the jungle pass way to reach it. It's so beautiful

Babak castle was constructed on top of a mountain with 2600 meter height, near Kaleybar. The castle has been used in Sasanian era and before that in Parthian age. This castle has adopted its name from Babak Khoramdin, a patriot and militant leader against Arab invaders.
Here, there has been a two-story castle. Before reaching to the gate of castle, you should pass a route which is faced in front of you as a narrow 200 meter corridor. This corridor was in a place which were under control of guardians in the past in order to check all traffic there. After passing this corridor, there is another entrance with irregular stairs by which you can arrive the castle. Then, you have the main hall around which there are seven rooms. These rooms all reach to central salon.
In east of palace, you will see other facilities which include some rooms and reservoirs and roofs of reservoirs are chevron and rocking. In northwest of palace, there are stairs which is counted as accessibility road to other stories of palace, but not much has remained today.
Two half-columns you see in this part has been a location for sentinel in order to have control over everywhere.
This castle reminds the bravery of famous Iranian warlord Babak Khoramdin, the leader of red-clad group. The unattainable castle of Babak was about 22 years unavailable to Arabs and resisted against Arabs.
Babak castle was recorded in list of nationsl, cultural and historical opuses in 1345 (1966) and its repair was ordered by cultural heritage organization of east Azerbaijan in order to make it now one of the most tourist attracting places in province.

Very exciting place. Strongly recommend to visit it. End of summer or about the April, best weather condition for visiting. Last 3 -4 kilometers of the road from Kalibar city to the parking of the site, you need off-road car or drive very slowly. From the parking (a rancher village عشایر - Nomads) to the Castle you should climb and walk at least 2 hours, so you need 2 additional hours to come back to your car before the sunset. Get water and some snacks with yourself.
There is an off-road Taxis station in a restaurant, near the beginning of the non-asphalt road.

Babak Castle is probably the most famous attraction in this region and the reason why people choose to travel there. Overall I think it's worth it. The view from the top is simply amazing, also picturing to oneself how they once constructed the castle and lived up there; unbelievable.
A few things of note: The castle can be reached from Kaleybar itself, though that's quite the hike (I estimate around 3h one way), or from further up the road towards the castle (still more than 1h) or lastly with the help of a local that takes you up the last bit with a 4 wheel drive (price around 60'000 Tomans). From there it's a bit more than 30min to the castle.
Since it's quite high up in the mountains, prepare accordingly. It can get cold and windy, slippery of course in rainy conditions.
Though not an archeologist myself, I'm still quite sure that most of the remaining structure was "rebuilt" at some point or at least reinforced and thus can't really be called original anymore.

Babak Castle and the walk up are a great experience. Hikers can walk up in about 60-90 minutes. The early part of the path is stone stairs, then you continue over a rocky path. If it’s foggy, don’t despair: you might get lucky and break through the clouds as you reach the castle and be rewarded with views from on top of the clouds! :-)

The best ruin "eagle's nest" ever - perfect view!

Very nice place. Had a pleasnt hike up the mountain between the clouds . Enjoyed the local food and tea. Very welcoming people . so sad that Babak Fort is not known enough to all people and no organization is taking care of it .

Mesmerized by the beauty of the landscape. Great hike to the fort, which takes around 2 hours from the Elyurdi Hotel. ~600 m of elevation gain to the top at 2430 m height.

Unbelievable castle with very nice view of natural jungle.let's go with me from Tabriz. +989360337952Whatsapp Taxi.tabriz.nb@gmal.com lets make safety unforgettable memories

Awesome place, but a little hard to reach. Beautiful scenery at top of it.

Babak fort in north west Iran is a place which Iranian usually go to celebrate Babak’s bravery and efforts .
It is a fort in top of mountain that climbing it up, takes about 1 hour.

Amazing castle where it has built since Sassanian

Amazing fort on the top of the mountains. 100% worth visiting

There's a lot of walking to do but it's definitely worth it.

What a surprise! Arriving in the mist, walking through the mist and then - suddenly - the skies open up and reveal this magnificent castle in the middle of nowhere. A must see.

Lovely scenery but 1.5 hours of hicking is needed.