Imbros gorge

Description of our trail

The path in the gorge begins just below the village of Imbros and the path to the entrance to the gorge is clearly marked. Inside, the trail descends gently down the gorge towards the south. It is never steep and not particularly difficult, but like everywhere in Crete, the path is stony, so you have to be careful where you put your feet.

Because the gorge is quite narrow and there are a lot of trees, you will have shade most of the time.

The gorge is small in height as well as in length, so you are always right next to the slopes and cliffs and you have a much better opportunity to observe the unique plants and flowers nearby.

After about 90 minutes of walking from the entrance to the gorge, you will pass an impressive stone arch on your right. It’s almost the end of the road and, if you’re feeling exhausted, we can stop here and return to our starting point to have lunch.

After that, the gorge widens a bit and after about 15 minutes you will come to the road and to the village of Komitades where you will find many taverns with traditional Cretan flavors.

The flora of the gorges is rich and it is surprising that between many rocks where there is no soil, grow various trees in particular, lianas, rare herbs and all kinds of herbs. With the exception of cypresses, azylakous, wild fig, agriomygdalias, olive trees, wicker and shrub with aromatic sage.

The rarest Cretan plants grow in ravines or on steep mountain slopes, such as Ebenus cretica, Linum arboreum (flax), Campanula pelviformis (bellflower), Staechelina arborea and Petromarcula arboreum. The flourishing plants in the plains and high peaks concerned: Tulipa bakeri and saxalite Tulipa (tulips), Anchusa caespitosa (alcanet), Scabiosa alborincta and Scabiosa minoana (scabiosa). The fauna is presented in a semi-wild form, with various species of birds like partridge, Kotsifi, thrushes, hawks, crows, eagles and other rare species of wild birds.