Μονοπάτι της Εξερεύνησης + Μονοπάτι Αριάδνη (Συνδυασμός) - Discovery Trail + Ariadni Trail (Combined)

The so-called 'Marathasa Trails' add a very good dimension to the Cyprus hiking experience. Most of these trails are not included in the official list of trails published by the Cyprus Department of Forests (which is very outdated anyway!):

http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/fd/fd.nsf/fd56_en/fd56_en?OpenDocument

However, you can find their full info and maps here:

https://marathasatrails.com/

*I am not aware who has developed this resource!

For those of you who follow my trails, you might remember my combination of Marathasa trails 1, 2 and 3, which you can find at this location:

https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/kalopanagiotes-periektike-diadrome-kalopanayiotis-comprehensive-trail-87692650

The trail presented here is a classic one, (The 'Discovery Trail', Trail No. 5), BUT combined with the 'Ariadni Trail' of the Gerakies village. This addition brings an extra 'spice' to the trail and makes it much more difficult!

Description: Starting from the junction of the main roads Pedoulas - Kykkos - Lemithou (just before you reach Xylogefyro), we quickly descend into the valley created by the small stream (arkatzi), which is called 'Arkatzi ton Kerasouthkion'. There is a bit of slippery gravel initially at the descend, so pay attention. The path becomes progressively greener and more beautiful, until you reach a small forest house (1km), where you turn west and continue into a wide path (narrow forest road). A little bit further down (2km) it is the area of the old settlement 'Kourion', of which I could find no trace, but I did not look in detail. More on these old settlements later.

The area between 2-4 kms is actually (by far) the best part of this trail, i.e. the upper part of the Platy Valley. This is the Valley which I have described in the past as the 'Cypriot Amazon', and I stick to this description (taking in account the differences in proportions!). This is a spectacular green area of dense forest and water flowing from everywhere. This is certainly NOT passable without knee-high waterproof boots during a rainy winter season, as the streams have to be crossed numerous times. At this time of the year however (summer) there was water only in the lower regions, but still enough to keep some parts very wet. The geographical location & orientation of this area means that it practically rarely gets any sunshine coming through. This is a sight and an experience that you don't usually associate with Cyprus.

At the lowest junction of this part (and the lowest part of the trail in general), we visit the ancient site of the village of Ano Platys (the ruins are visible in this case). The entire area has a magnificent story behind it. If you are a greek-speaking reader, please visit this resource for more details:

http://www.kykkos.org.cy/imkt.cy.net/06/T06-120.pdf

A quick (but not too difficult) ascend will take you to the Xystarouda pick-nick area. I highly recommend this first part to casual hikers and / or families with children (in the summer). You can actually use two cars (one in Xylogefyro and one in Xystarouda to take you back) for convenience.

The trail then follows the official 'Agiasma' nature trail, which will take you to the small Holy Spring of Panagia of Kykkos. This is an essential visit if you are a Christian Orthodox. This is also an area of possible sightings of wild mouflons. It is a gradual downhill path, passing through a pine and golden oak forest, very pleasant overall. This part can also be easily followed by casual hikers and families, for an extra length. It will be 8 kms in total from the start.

From this point onwards the trail becomes mostly a 'fitness track'. Starting with a quick ascend (3 km in length, 3 km in elevation), it will will take you to the area of 'Kavalos'. As many other hikers have warned, this is tough. However, I think what many have failed to describe is that the difficulty is enhanced by the nature of the surface (fine, slippery gravel at many places). In fact, this would be much more difficult to do as a descend! So, in a hot summer day, you need to take your time.

Once you reach Kavalos, the 'sane' thing to do is to continue the designated trail no.5, and start your return to Xylogefyro. But I like longer trails, so I decided to experiment by adding the Ariadni 'Gerakies' trail to it, which I had never done in the past because it is too small.

First warning: the Ariadni trail is poorly signposted, and poorly maintained in some places. It is not dangerous or unpassable, but it is not on the same standard as a typical Cypriot trail. It has a very pleasant initial descend towards the village (best path of this small trail), with some impressive views towards the north. Once you reach the village though, you may as well sit there for a coffee or a small snack, because the remaining part is the 'killer'.

The return (and ascend) starts next to St. George's Church in the middle of the village. You just go up on a paved road. Pay attention, you should leave the paved road to climb up the mountain at around the 13.5 km mark (there is no visible sign so I initially drifted further east). You then climb up on a rough gravel path, until you reach trail no. 5 again. In short, this could be avoided. Enjoyable, but only for fitness purposes.

Once you join no. 5 again, there is more 'struggle', as the path has a lot of 'ups and downs' towards its end, with loads of slippery gravel. The signposting is again questionable at some points, which made me drift away a couple of times.

However, these were all minor issues. PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: Just behind Xylogefyro, (at around the 17 km mark), the narrow gravel path (on a slope) shows signs of disintegration. It is passable (still), and you would not call it too 'risky' but there are a couple of areas where the natural walking 'line' has been disturbed. There are a lot of mouflons in this area (I saw two myself the last time), and they will certainly disturb it more, as they move rocks from above and below. I hope that it will be maintained, because otherwise it will become dangerous very soon.

That's it. Some very exciting 18 kms. I would not call it the best trail in Cyprus. I actually call it a 'missed opportunity'. It is very nice but it could have been designed in a better way to be more accessible by more people. Needless to say, I am referring only to the main trail ('Discovery'), not the 'Ariadni' one, which certainly needs maintenance.