Rooted in Kurdistan. Open to discovery.

Closer to the
living world.

Wander mountain paths, find a quiet place by the water, and discover the Kurdistan that stays with you.

A free field guide.
A deeper connection to place.

An illustrated green mountain valley with a winding river and low clouds
THE LIVING RIDGE
Landscapes worth slowing down for.KURDISTAN, THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS
Landscape illustration
Find your kind of outside Mountains Waterfalls Lakes Caves Heritage

One route, three real stops

Follow the route north, one real place at a time.

From the Halgurd summit to hidden gorges, lakes and caves, every chapter below is a place you can actually stand in, photograph, and add to your record.

Places on the route

From Halgurd's summit to hidden caves and quiet lakes.

Nature KRD only unlocks a place when your GPS matches it on site and you submit a photo. Here's a taste of what's waiting.

Halgurd Mountain

Halgurd Mountain

3,607m summit

Shanidar Cave

Shanidar Cave

Neanderthal site

Lake Felaw

Lake Felaw

Alpine lake

Rawanduz Gorge

Rawanduz Gorge

Gorge

Gali Ali Bag Waterfall

Gali Ali Bag Waterfall

Waterfall

Bekhal Waterfall

Bekhal Waterfall

Cascade

Korek Mountain

Korek Mountain

Mountain

Dukan Lake

Dukan Lake

Lake

Gara Mountain

Gara Mountain

Snow

Barzan Valley

Barzan Valley

Valley

Amedi Cliffs

Amedi Cliffs

Cliffs

32
Destinations
across 4 governorates
6
Explorers
sharing real visits
20
Verified check-ins
GPS + photo, on site
20
Shared photos
approved by moderators

Your journey, alive

Every place you verify lights up your record.

Reach a place, confirm your GPS and submit a photo to add it to your record. Places you have not reached yet stay in view, so you can always see what is next.

Verified by place

Designed for real trips, not desk exploration.

The check-in flow is intentionally simple for mountain roads and weak signal: open the destination, confirm GPS, share one photo, and continue your day.

Pick a route

Browse by category, difficulty and governorate before you leave.

Arrive on site

Nature KRD checks your GPS at the destination and requires a photo.

Save the moment

Upload one photo to complete the visit and help future explorers.

Build status

Your verified visits, badges and leaderboard position update as you explore.

GOOD PLACES. BETTER COMPANY.

A weekend away.
A story together.

Waterfall mornings. A slow afternoon above the canyon. Bring your favourite people and turn a few saved places into a journey together.

01

Make room for discovery

Choose the places you want to see and arrange them day by day.

02

Bring your people

Invite friends, share the route and take the plan into your favourite app.

03

Come home with a story

Check in along the way and keep a record of the places you reached.

Tap a place. Find your next escape.

A hand with red nails holding a burgundy concept phone
Nature KRDCloser to the living world.
YOUR NEXT WEEKEND

Follow the water

Gali Ali Beg WaterfallDay 1 · Erbil

Gali Ali Beg Waterfall

Start where the river meets the rock.

Discover this place
Bekhal WaterfallDay 1 · Erbil

Bekhal Waterfall

Stay a little longer by the cascades.

Discover this place
Rawanduz CanyonDay 2 · Erbil

Rawanduz Canyon

Finish with a view worth remembering.

Discover this place
Your weekend route2 days · 3 places

About Nature KRD

A deeper connection to place.

Nature KRD is a free field guide to the natural places of the Kurdistan Region. Open the destination, confirm your GPS and submit a photo to add the place to your record: mountains, caves, lakes and waterfalls you have genuinely stood in.

  • 100% free, no subscriptions, no ads, ever
  • Built for the Kurdistan Region
01 — 03Our purpose
Nature KRD

Closer to the living world.

Our purpose

Rooted in the mountains that raised us

The Kurdistan Region is a landscape of oak forest, limestone gorges, snow-fed rivers and villages older than any map of them. Nature KRD began from a simple observation: these places are loved but lightly documented, and the people who know them best are the ones who walk them. So we built a guide that only records a place once someone has genuinely stood in it.

That one rule does three things at once. It gives quiet valleys, forest trails and border villages the visibility they have never had. It turns the condition of a place into something visitors report rather than walk past, so litter and damage are seen early and cleared. And it points real footfall toward the guides, tea houses and family kitchens that have looked after these landscapes for generations.

Visibility for overlooked places

The famous waterfalls do not need our help. The quiet valleys, forest trails and villages a few roads further out do, so they get the same page, the same map pin and the same photographs as anywhere else.

Encourage hiking

Turn a phone into a reason to go outside, with real routes, honest difficulty ratings and seasons that tell you when to walk them.

Environmental awareness

Every entry carries the practical care a place needs, so visitors arrive already knowing how to leave it as they found it.

Conservation

Cleanup reports and condition updates from walkers build a living record of what each place needs, and what has already been repaired.

Responsible local tourism

Send visitors through the villages, guides and tea houses that already look after these valleys, rather than around them.

Homemade, from the source

Village honey, walnuts, pomegranate molasses, dairy and handwoven work are part of the journey, not a roadside stall on the way home. The aim is for a day out to pay the household that made them.

Live from the community

Latest discoveries

Your field record starts here

Go somewhere real this week.

Join free, discover destinations, and help build a cleaner, more useful outdoor guide for Kurdistan.

100% free, no ads, built for Kurdistan