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Grammeni Oxia has been on my wish list for quite some time and when we finally managed to visit this November I immediately fell in love.
The combination of grassy mountain ridges, colorful beech forests, sleepy villages, and dramatic views towards the neighboring Vardousia was magical and one weekend was far from enough to experience all that Grammeni Oxia has to offer.
Oxia is a beautiful even if inconspicuous mountain in Central Greece hidden among the more imposing massifs of Roumeli, Velouchi, Kaliakouda, Oiti, and Vardousia. The highest peak of Oxia, Sarantainia, rises to an altitude of 1.923 meters but it is the stunning beech forest that Oxia is best known for.
Unfortunately, the ridge of Oxia is yet another target of the Greek wind turbine industry due to its easy accessibility and gentle profile. If the plans go ahead, the wind turbines will not only irreversibly damage this beautiful landscape but also destroy the habitat of rare birds and the new network of access roads will irreparably degrade the unique virgin beech forest.
How to get there
The drive from Athens to the monument of the battle of Grammeni Oxia, where we started our hikes, took us approximately three and a half hours.
We left Athens following the Thessaloniki highway and drove all the way to Lamia. Shortly before reaching the city of Lamia we left the highway and took the exit for Karpenisi. We followed the regional road Lamia – Karpenisi for about 45 kilometers until we spotted signs for Gardiki and Grammeni Oxia pointing to the left.
We crossed the Sperchios River and started a steady climb to the mountains. The next 40 kilometers of the road were full of sharp turns and broken asphalt making the drive quite slow.
That being said the final section of the drive through the village of Gardiki and the colorful autumn forest was absolutely stunning, and we made many stops to take photos and to enjoy the colorful autumn scenery.
You can find the driving directions on Google Maps HERE.
Where to stay & eat
The villages closest to the beginning of our hikes are Gardiki and Grammeni Oxia. Both offer few taverns and Gardiki has a couple of accommodation options as well. We especially loved the tavern called Gevsignosia in Grammeni Oxia for its delicious food and cozy atmosphere (and even the peculiarly decorated toilets).
Another option is the Refuge of Grammeni Oxia sitting in a perfect location at the beginning of the hikes. However, the refuge is not permanently open so you’ll need to call them and check for availability.
Our trip to Grammeni Oxia was a last-minute decision which didn’t leave us enough time to book accommodation. Therefore, we spent the night camping next to a small church hidden in the forest near the road between Gardiki and the monument of the battle of Grammeni Oxia.
This spot was really convenient for camping thanks to the abundance of flat, grassy space around the church and a spring nearby. That being said, spending a night here wasn’t without its challenges. The night was freezing cold with temperatures dropping down to -5 degrees and peeing in the dark Blair Witch-like forest in the middle of the night was a true bravery test!
Maps, signposting & difficulty
The area of Grammeni Oxia is covered in the Anavasi Map of the Mountains of Evritania but we mainly relied on Wikiloc during our hikes. The trails were sparsely marked especially at Sarantainia and the path was hard to see on the grassy slopes.
That being said, none of the hikes we did was particularly difficult. The ascent to Portokali summit from the monument of the battle of Grammeni Oxia (and back) only has about 6 km in length and 250 meters of elevation gain (Wikiloc) while the circular hike to Sarandaina measures 13 km with 600 meters of elevation (Wikiloc).
Our biggest challenge on both hikes was the weather. We experienced a whiteout and hailstorm on Portokali and freezing high winds on the ridge of Sarandaina. All this in the middle of November when Athens still bathed in sunshine and 20-degree temperatures. So come prepared!
Portokali Summit Hike (1.714 meters)
We started our hike to the summit of Portokali on the top of a small muddy parking lot next to the Monument of the Battle of Grammeni Oxia. At first, we passed through a section of beautiful beech forest, very atmospheric during our visit thanks to the thick fog creeping among the gnarly old trees.
Not before long we come out of the forest and onto a grassy meadow. We followed a narrow yet clearly visible trail through relatively flat terrain for about one kilometer.
Once we reached another section of the forest the path turned uphill and we embarked on the most challenging part of this hike. The trail become steep and rocky and quite slippery on a dump, rainy day like ours.
After about 500 meters of steady climb, we reached the ridge. The last kilometer to the summit was flat and the terrain easy even though there was no clear path. That being said, it would be really easy to get lost here in the fog if we weren’t following a Wikiloc recording.
The summit of Portokali is marked by a large cairn but that’s all I can say about it. On our arrival, it was haplessly shrouded in thick white fog and lashed by hail. Legend has it though that the view from the top towards the neighboring Vardousia is breathtaking!
We returned back the same way. Once we arrived back to our car the sky cleared, the sun came out and the whole mountain was suddenly bathing in a beautiful warm evening light. Oh well, that’s the way it goes in the mountains sometimes.
Psili Rachi (1.799 meters), Sarandaina Summit (1.923 meters) & the beech forest of Grammeni Oxia
We started our ascent to Sarandaina at the Monument of the Battle of Grammeni Oxia but headed in the opposite direction than the day before. Until the Refuge of Grammeni Oxia, we followed a wide dirt road through beautiful beech forest, still frozen and mysterious early in the morning.
At the refuge, we came out of the woods and started our climb to the top along a grassy ridge. After the suffering of the previous day, we wished for warm sunny weather but our wishes were only partially answered.
Even though the weather was sunny and clear and the visibility amazing, the treeless ridge was whipped by freezing winds making us shiver after just a couple hundred meters.
After about one and a half kilometers we reached the first smaller summit called Psili Rachi (1.799 meters). From here, we could enjoy the stunning views of Sarandaina for the first time.
From Psili Rachi we descended to a saddle only to climb back up towards the summit of Sarantaina on the other side.
The trail was faint at this point, sometimes disappearing altogether but walking through the grassy slopes was easy. At a few sections, we intentionally left the trail and walked a little bit lower on the side of the ridge to escape the wind.
The views from the ridge all the way to the summit of Sarantainia were spectacular! The sea of mountains all around us was endless and we spent quite some time trying to guess the most prominent peaks.
We didn’t want to return from the summit of Sarantaina the same way, no matter how amazing it was. So we decided to descend down the northern side of the mountain and walk back through the beautiful beech forest of Grammeni Oxia.
There wasn’t any clear path at the beginning of our descent and we had to keep an eye on Wikiloc at all times to stay on track. After around 1 kilometer we arrived at a dirt road and turned right.
We followed the dirt road downhill for another approximately one and a half kilometers (with few shortcuts in the turns) until we arrived at a crossroad. We turned right here and started our return towards the Monument of the Battle of Grammeni Oxia.
Soon, the road entered the forest and for the next 4 kilometers, we walked under the thick canopy of trees, still bright golden yellow at the end of November.
We crossed many small streams running down the mountain and across the road which was an unexpected highlight of this section of the hike.
Once we reached the asphalt road connecting Gardiki with the Monument of the Battle of Grammeni Oxia we turned right.
We passed the small church Metamorfosi Sotiros where we spent the night and continued all the way back to the beginning of our trail.
The last 3.5 kilometers of walking along the asphalt road were the most tiresome but the beautiful forest scenery all around was a good enough prize for me. We even spotted a couple of deer passing by!
