Fandoghlu Forest

Fandoghlou Forest, known in the local dialect as «Mashe», is considered one of the most beautiful nature-tourism destinations in Ardabil Province. The forest covers an area of about 16,000 hectares, and given this size, the sights of the Fandoghlou tourist area are very varied. The large number of hazelnut (fandogh) trees in the forest is the reason it became known as Fandoghlou Forest. In spring and early summer, Fandoghlou is also filled with chamomile flowers. Accordingly, the Chamomile Flower Festival is held every year on 24 and 25 Khordad, coinciding with World Flower and Plant Day, with a large turnout of domestic and foreign tourists in this area, which is one of the pristine regions and a natural reserve for medicinal plants. 

Rare species such as hazel, hornbeam, beech, oak, chestnut-leaved oak and musk willow grow here and add to the value of the region. However, the forest was named Fandoghlou because hazel trees grow here more than any other species. In the meadows of Fandoghlou Forest grows one of the most beautiful and rarest flowers in the world, the crown imperial (Susan Chelcheragh), which has outstanding potential for developing the tourism industry. Chamomile is also an aromatic annual plant 20 to 40 centimetres tall, which grows wild in fields, meadows and orchards, and most of all in the forest area of Fandoghlou in Namin. In the Fandoghlou area you can find animals such as foxes, wolves, brown bears and martens, and birds such as pheasants, chukars, golden eagles, larks and hooded crows.

Among the recreational activities at Fandoghlou Forest is a grass ski slope. This beautiful slope reaches an altitude of 1,700 metres above sea level and is approved as meeting standards. There is also a cable car line, considered one of the most standard cable car lines in the country, which can carry 1,350 people per hour along a route 1,752 metres long. In addition, inside the forest there is a hot spring pool called Mashe Sui, meaning “hot forest water”, whose water has therapeutic properties. The temperature of the spring water is about 25 degrees Celsius, and it lies beside a river of the same name. 

Fandoghlou Forest is the meeting point of the dry, cold air of the Ardabil region and the warm, humid air of Gilan. For this reason, the forest is misty most days of the year, and even on the hottest summer days you can see clouds drifting at low altitude. Overall, because of its elevation, this region has a pleasant, cool climate.