The High Mountains of Crete – a walking and trekking guide

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Updates
• Reviews
• Further Reading

View Sample Route Map

Walk 1
Around the Omalos Plain

Grade                   A
Start/finish          Omalos hamlet 1080m (3543ft)
Access                  KTEL Omalos bus or taxi from Chania
Approx distance   5–6km (3.1–3.7 miles) depending on route
Time allowance    Allow 20mins per km; straight across the plateau is about 2.5km, and return by either rim road is about 3km

On this route walkers can avoid the roads fairly well by using perimeter sheep paths and service tracks. On the plain, patience will be needed with fencing and gates (hence the generous time allowance). The whole area is heavily grazed, but wild flowers survive here and there on the borders of the old meadows or around the sinkholes, one or two of which retain water in the spring. The two-storey, white taverna in the hamlet, to the left of the western pass, is a popular destination. Along with refreshments, grills and salad, the taverna offers two triple-bed rooms for rent.

A few rare ambelitsia trees, endemic to the Omalos region, grow in the dry watercourse descending from the Strifomadi–Psilafi massif. Ambelitsia wood is used to make the traditional shepherd’s crook of Sfakia. Ruined ‘summer’ houses ring the edge of the plateau, as this was (and still is) a transhumance destination for shepherds of Ay. Irini and Lakki. Much needed by the busy hotels, cheese is still made here in the spring – excellent mountain-produced graviera that does not reach Chania market.

Leave Omalos by walking west, either on the fenced track just north of the hamlet, or on the road just south of it, beyond the last rooming house. These two roads converge at a crossroads behind the hamlet. A massive deluge (2006) has caused a new sinkhole to develop on the left, before this point. To walk straight across the plain, note a dirt track near the end of this disturbed ground – it goes slightly uphill and is fenced on both sides. Walk straight along this. (The white taverna is now in view across the plain and this is roughly the direction in which to head.) A wire gate at the end gives access to an enclosure formed around a long sinkhole. Make your way around this to re-join your line of travel. There are one or two more wire gates to negotiate, and various sinkhole features.

Return via the northern rim road or make your way around the southern edge where there are sheep paths near the road. From the south, if you wish to leave the main road, take the dirt track that goes straight across the plateau. It is dead straight and can easily be identified as you walk along the main road from Xyloscala. Keep on this track until you are level with Omalos hamlet where, free of fenced enclosures, you turn right for the main road.