Access to the Kaçkar region is from Erzurum or Trabzon. The trail heads are at Yukari Kavron (north side of the range) and at Yaylalar or Barhal (south side of the range).

By Bus, several each day/night:
Istanbul - Trabzon: 17 hrs
Ankara - Trabzon: 12 hrs
Ankara - Erzurum: 14 hrs

By train (book a sleeper):
Ankara - Erzurum: 24 hrs (1 per day)

By Air (Turkish Airlines):
Istanbul - Trabzon: 3 direct flights daily
Ankara - Trabzon: 2 direct flights daily
Istanbul - Erzurum: 1 stopping flight daily
Ankara - Erzurum: 1 direct flight daily

Access to Yusufeli and beyond is by dolmus:
Trabzon - Artvin: 2 per day (4.5 hrs)
Artvin - Yusufeli: 4 per day (1.3hrs)
Erzurum - Yusufeli: 3 per day (3 hrs)

Yusufeli - Barhal:
4 buses daily, afternoons (1 hr)
2 go on to Yaylalar (3 hrs)

Access to Ayder and beyond is by bus/dolmus:
Trabzon - Rize - Pazar: several buses daily (2 hrs)
Pazar - Ayder: several buses daily, (1 hr). Some go on to Yukari Kavron.