Candy Cane Mountains: finding Azerbaijan's striped hills near Khizi
Khizi · about 1.5 to 2 hours from Baku
The Candy Cane Mountains are a band of red-and-white striped ridges in the Khizi district of Azerbaijan, spread along the road toward Altiaghaj about 100 km north-west of Baku. The colours come from alternating iron-rich and pale sedimentary layers, there is no signage or entrance gate, and the hills are explored freely from roadside pullouts or, deeper in, on dry riverbed tracks by 4x4.
- Region
- Khizi
- From Baku
- 100 km · about 1.5 to 2 hours
- Best season
- Spring and autumn for soft light; year-round in dry weather
- Time to spend
- 1 to 2 hours at the hills; half a day as a loop from Baku
- Entry
- Free
- Red-and-white banded ridges unlike anywhere else in the country
- No gates, no tickets, no crowds: open ground you explore freely
- Roadside viewpoints reachable by any car in dry weather
- Dry wadi tracks behind the front ridges for 4x4 exploration
- An easy pairing with Altiaghaj National Park or Beshbarmag rock
The Candy Cane Mountains are the most photographed hills in Azerbaijan that nobody can give you directions to. Every guide says "near Khizi", none says where to stop, and there is no sign on the ground to help. The short version: take the Altiaghaj turn off the Baku to Quba highway about an hour north of the capital, and the striped ridges start around the climbing road. Birtour crosses them on dry wadi tracks as day 4 of our 4x4 expeditions; the notes below cover both the easy version and ours.
Where exactly are they, and why can't anyone say?
The hills are not one summit with a car park; they are a band of banded ridges scattered along several kilometres of the Khizi road, which is why every written direction sounds evasive. The honest answer is that the road itself is the viewpoint: once the stripes begin, pull off where the ground is firm and walk. The strongest amphitheatres sit behind the first ridgeline, off the asphalt, reached on dry riverbed tracks.
We log our own pullout and track waypoints on every transit, and precise GPS coordinates for the best stops will be added to this page after our September 2026 expedition survey rather than guessed now.
What makes the stripes?
Alternating sedimentary layers: iron-oxide-rich bands weather red and rust-pink, paler clay and carbonate bands stay white and grey, and erosion has sliced the stack at an angle that reads as candy striping. The colours are moisture- and light-sensitive. Low morning or late-afternoon sun deepens the reds; a recently dried surface after rain gives the strongest contrast of all, while wet ground both dulls the colour and makes the clay treacherous to drive.
Any car, or a 4x4?
Dry weather and the classic roadside views: any car, no drama. The deeper wadi tracks, and any visit within a day or two of rain, are 4x4 territory; wet Khizi clay is genuinely slippery, the kind that stops two-wheel-drive cars on flat ground. If you rent and go independently, remember the unpaved-road insurance exclusion covered in driving in Azerbaijan: the tracks here are exactly where a standard rental contract quietly stops covering you.
On the 8-day 4x4 self-drive expedition the hills are the reward at the end of the long day 4 transit: roughly 30 km of wadi tracks through the ridges, then a field picnic at the White Spring (Ag Bulaq) before the night in Altiaghaj.
When to come, and what to bring
Spring and autumn give the softest light and workable temperatures; summer works early or late in the day; winter visits depend on dry ground. There are no facilities of any kind, so bring water, sun cover and firm shoes, and carry litter out. Fuel and food are on the Baku to Quba highway, not up the mountain road.
- Where exactly are the Candy Cane Mountains?
- They spread along the road that leaves the Baku to Quba highway toward Altiaghaj and Khizi, about 100 km from Baku. There is no sign, no gate and no single official viewpoint; the striped ridges simply begin around the road. The first strong views arrive from the roadside itself, which is why directions in most guides sound vague.
- How do you get there from Baku?
- Drive the Baku to Quba highway north for about an hour, take the signed turn toward Khizi and Altiaghaj, and the striped hills appear along the climbing road. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours each way. There is no public transport to the hills themselves; a car, a driver-guide day trip, or a 4x4 tour are the practical options.
- Do you need a 4x4 for the Candy Cane Mountains?
- Not for the classic views: in dry weather any car reaches the roadside pullouts. A 4x4 earns its keep on the dry riverbed tracks behind the front ridges, where the best striped amphitheatres hide, and after rain, when the clay surface turns greasy enough to stop two-wheel-drive cars completely.
- Why are the hills striped red and white?
- The banding is sedimentary: layers rich in iron oxides weather red, alternating with paler clay and carbonate layers, and erosion has carved the stack into ridges that read like candy stripes. Colour intensity shifts with light and moisture, strongest in low sun and just after the ground dries from rain.
- Is there an entrance fee or any facilities?
- No fee, no gate, no facilities. The hills are open ground with no water, shade or shops, so carry what you need and take litter back out. The nearest services are in Khizi town and along the Baku to Quba highway; fuel up before the turn rather than counting on the mountain road.
- What can you combine with a visit?
- Altiaghaj National Park continues up the same road, and Beshbarmag rock stands off the coastal highway on the way back, which makes a natural half-day loop from Baku. On our 8-day 4x4 expedition the hills are day 4: wadi tracks through the ridges, then a field picnic at the White Spring.