called "the Vale of Troy" by English speakers.Currently a modest 2.4 km² of Mount Ida are protected by Kaz Dagi National Park, created in 1993.

The summit is windswept and bare with a relatively low tree line due to exposure, but the slopes of this mountain, at the edge of mild Mediterranean and colder central Anatolian climate zones, hold a wealth of endemic flora, marooned here after the Ice Age. The climate at lower altitudes has become increasingly hot and dry in the deforested landscape.