From Baku: Pink Lake, Beshbarmaq & Candy Cane Mountains Tour

Three completely different landscapes, a lake that actually turns pink, a sacred mountain pilgrims have climbed for centuries, and striped hills that look like they belong on Mars.
Stop 1: Pink Lake (Masazir)
Just 15 km north of Baku — barely 30 minutes from the city — Masazir Lake is one of only eight naturally pink lakes in the world. The color comes from halophilic ("salt-loving") bacteria and algae thriving in the lake's high salinity and shallow water, and it's most vivid on a bright summer day, ranging from pale blush to a deeper crimson depending on the light and time of day.

A practical note worth setting expectations on: this is a working industrial site, not a polished tourist attraction. Salt has been extracted here since 1813, and the lake is fenced for that reason, with just one informal viewing spot. Some visitors also report litter along the shoreline. It's genuinely worth the quick stop for how unusual and photogenic it is — just go in with realistic expectations rather than picturing a pristine nature reserve.
Stop 2: Beshbarmaq Mountain
Continuing along the Baku–Guba highway, about an hour northwest of the city, Beshbarmaq ("Five-Finger Mountain") rises 382 meters above the Caspian coast, its jagged peak giving it the name. This isn't just a viewpoint — it's one of Azerbaijan's most significant pilgrimage sites, known locally as Khidirzinde. Legend holds that the prophet Khidr came here seeking the elixir of life and achieved immortality after drinking from a spring at the summit; locals still climb to pray for strength and good fortune, and a traditional blessing ritual — a whispered prayer with the shoulders touched by a stone — is offered partway up.

The mountain has real historical weight beyond the legend, too: remnants of a 6th-century fortification sit at the summit, and Beshbarmaq once guarded the narrow coastal passage that Silk Road caravans were funneled through. Today, it's also recognized as one of Azerbaijan's best birdwatching spots, with the corridor between mountain and sea serving as a migration bottleneck for hundreds of species. The climb itself is manageable but genuinely steep in places — budget more time than the modest height suggests, and expect real crowds if you visit during Ramadan or another religious holiday.
Stop 3: The Candy Cane Mountains
The final stop is the one most visitors come for — the striped, mineral-rich hills of Khizi district, where bands of red, pink, white, and ochre twist across the landscape like something painted rather than grown. The colors come from iron compounds in the rock, altered differently by groundwater over millions of years, and the effect is most dramatic in the early morning or late afternoon light rather than under a flat midday sun.
While you're in the area, keep an eye out on the ground for small fossils — ancient shells and belemnites left behind from the Cretaceous seabed that once covered this entire region.

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