Walking on one of the most beautiful paths of eastern Crete, through black pine forests.…
Milonas Gorge
The Gorge of Milonas is located east of Ierapetra, north of the village of Ferma. It is not a very well-know gorge, and it is tricky to find. The few websites that describe the gorge do not give very accurate information on how to access the gorge. When we set out for our excursion, we figured that once we got close to the gorge, we would be able to ask one of the locals for exact directions. We stopped at the very first supermarket inside of Ferma and asked for directions.
The owners told us that they had no idea, but they knew that the path had been cleared the day before, and they offered to call someone who might know. The woman who they called did not know, but then she offered to call someone else for us and then call us back! When she called back, she told us that the president and vice president of the local cultural association were actually taking a couple of photographers from a travel magazine through the gorge, and would take us with them!
They sent us down the road to the president’s mother’s café to wait. She treated us to drinks while we waited, and then Manolis, the president, came along and picked us up. From there we went just west of the village, and took the first dirt road on the right. After driving up the road for a few kilometres we came to a spot where you can turn off and park your car instead of continuing up the mountain. From there we could see the beginning of the path into the gorge.
The path is relatively easy to walk, although there are some slippery parts, especially where the dirt is loose. After about 10-15 minutes of walking on the dirt path, we came to some stone water ditches that were built in the 1960’s to carry water from the waterfall. Walking along these was easy, except for a couple spots where small cliffs jutted out. Manolis brought a small ladder so that we could climb down, around, and back up onto the path. From the start of the path, it took less than 30 minutes to get to the waterfall. Once we arrived, Nikos, the vice-president brought out tsikouthia, orange juice, and fruit and we relaxed and chatted beside the waterfall. The waterfall forms a small pool which is perfect for taking a dip on a hot day. Afterward, we returned to the café.
There we were treated to coffee, more tsikouthia, and very tasty cheese pies with honey. I highly recommend stopping here for a bite to eat- in addition to having delicious food, the owners were so warm and friendly and made us feel so welcome! Manolis and Nikos are working to make the gorge and waterfall more accessible to visitors. They plan to post signs marking the entrance to the gorge. It is a very pleasant walk and the waterfall is absolutely beautiful. If you are ever down in the Ierapetra or Markigialos area, it is definitely worth it to visit Milonas Gorge.
The waterfall of the gorge of Milonas can be accessed through two ascending trails that start near the beach of Kakia Skala. The first trail (easy – 20 min walk) comes on the pinewooded side of the gorge and a big part of it is the old concrete ditch, previously used for transferring water to Koutsounari. The other trail comes along the riverbed and especially in winter us very tiring (takes about 1:30 hour)
Additional Info
Altitude: 400m (Agios Ioannis) to 0m (Kakia Skala beach) — Waterfall: 210m
Starting point: Close to Agios Ioannis Village or by a dirt road from Kakia Skala beach
Path Type: Good Marked path
Difficulty: Medium
Walk distance: 4km (Agios Ioannis village-Kakia Skala beach)
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