The Mountainous Iran
The love of nature has been always with us from the day one we started working as Iran Doostan, so we get excited every time we see a day on the calendar that is marked with a celebration of the nature. December 11 known as the International Mountain Day is the perfect time to introduce the less known natural beauties of Iran.
Iran has been known as a country full of golden deserts to the world, true, but we must say that Iran is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. The world knows our Damvand (Mount Damavand tour), the highest peak in Iran and west Asia. It is so widely known that Lutz Eichholz a well-known mountain unicyclicst set his biggest challenge on this 5671m peak. 2/3 of Iran is covered by mountains but not even half of them are known to the world.
Iran’s mountains are categorized in eight different classifications that are as followed: Alborz Mountain range which sub classifies into five different groups, Zagros Mountain range, continuous central mountains, Khorasan Mountains, Kerman Mountains, border mountains of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan Mountains, and isolated heights.
Alborz and Zagros are the two main mountain ranges of the country and cover thousands of kilometers of Iran’s land. The two ranges have been the loyal protectors of this land against many invasions throughout the history as well. There are more than 100 summits over 4000 meters in Iran and most of them are in Zagros area. Dena Mountains, almost in central Zagros, is the tallest part of the range that has 49 summits over 4000m. There is a similar area in Alborz range as well and it is called Takht-e Soleiman that its highest peak is the famous Alam Kuh 4850m, the second highest peak of the country.
Shir Kuh summit in Yazd province, 4075m, is the highest peak of the continuous central mountains group. Shir Kuh is within a 40km distance from the ancient beautiful city of Yazd and you can visit the city after a couple of day exploration in the nature, fun! Karkas Mountains in Isfahan province is in this list as well. Karkas is close to Kashan and Natanz city that gives you the advantage of visiting historical and stunning cities in the province as well. The highest peak of this mountain is named Karkas too with a height of 3895m. Mount Gargash 3588m, another peak in Karkas has been verified by the international scientists as the best spot for Iran’s National Observatory’s biggest telescope (3.4m diameter).
Besides the short and long mountain ranges all over the country there are many isolated heights sitting in different locations. Sabalan summit 4811m the third highest peak of the country is one of these lonely heights. Taftan 4050m and Sahand 3750m are on this list as well.
Ghash Mastan, Khersan, Sardasht, Khol-e No, Azad Kuh, Shah, Yazd Kuh, OshtoranKuh, and many more are on the long list of high and important peaks of Iran.
Iran with 1500 peaks over 3000m is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. All these mountains next to the plains and deserts create such peerless beauties that strongly motivate our wanderlust. This generosity of the Mother Nature has made us nature lovers and for us every day is the day to celebrate, protect, and show our support and love to every element in nature.
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