Olmeios River Hike and The Valley of the Muses (Mount Elikonas)

I stumbled across the trail through the Olmeios River Gorge at Mount Elikonas only recently when searching for a short and easy hike not too far from Athens. And after the success of our previous excursion to Mount Elikonas when we climbed to its highest summit, Paliovouna, we decided to give this lesser-known trail a try.

This lovely circular trail starts in the mythical Valley of the Muses on the eastern slopes of Mount Elikonas. It passes through grassy meadows, small vineyards, and olive orchards spreading across the slopes of the valley before disappearing in the lush valley of the Olmeios River, the highlight of our hike!

The valley was known since antiquity as the home to the nine Olympian Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and the protectors of art and creation. It was the site of an ancient Greek sanctuary to the Muses and the Mouseian festivals held in their honor.

Today, little remains of the ancient site but the valley and the surrounding mountains are still a great place to visit for any nature lover looking to get lost for a day in this beautiful unspoiled (yet) corner of Mount Elikonas.

How to get to the beginning of the trail from Athens

There are two ways to reach the Valley of the Muses from Athens, both taking approximately one and a half hours to complete.

The first option is to follow the Athens – Lamia highway until the exit for Thiva. From here, a series of regional roads will take you all the way to Askri lying at the entrance to the valley. We returned to Athens following this route and while longer it was fast and easy.

The second option is to drive from Athens in the direction is Corinth leaving the highway in Eleusina. From here, follow the regional road Eleusisnas – Thivon until Erythres, passing through lovely countryside at the foothills of Mount Pateras and Mount Kitheronas.

At Erythres turn on the Agoriani – Koronias road that will take you all the way to Askri. This route is shorter even if slower and by far more interesting. We enjoyed this little road trip on our way to the Valley of Muses and I definitely recommend passing from here at least one way.

Once in Askri, we passed through the center of the village following the signs for the Valley of the Muses. We passed a spring on the edge of the village and a large cemetery and some 600 meters later we turned on a wide unpaved road branching off to the left.

We followed the road for another 2.5 kilometers until we reached a smaller dirt track running slightly uphill from the right side of the road. We parked here and began our hike.

You can find the driving directions to the trailhead on Google Maps HERE.

Maps, signposting & difficulty

With only about 6.5 km in length and less than 200 meters of elevation gain this hike could be considered easy. However, we encountered a few fun challenges along the way.

Except for the initial section of the hike where we followed a well-defined dirt track, the trail was faint and hard to find, sometimes disappearing altogether.

It was marked by red paint and small rocky cairns but again, these were pretty rare and hard to spot. The area is covered in the Anavasi map of Mt. Elikonas but this trail is not included in the map and the 1:50.000 scale of the map wouldn’t make it too helpful anyway.

Therefore, we relied mainly on a Wikiloc recording, especially when descending down to the gorge. That being said, we didn’t get lost once and the need to stay vigilant when searching for the trail made the experience only more interesting.

The terrain was another challenge. As I mentioned before, the trail descending to the gorge was hardly visible among low shrubs and bushes and we ended up with scratches all over our legs.

To make our way through the gorge of the Olmeios River, we often had to hop from boulder to boulder and cross the stream many times as there wasn’t really any clear path to follow

A few sections of the trail were secured by a rope but except for one tricky spot we didn’t really need to use it. That being said, it may be much more difficult to pass through the gorge in early spring when the water level is higher.

Hiking through the Olmeios River Gorge

At the beginning of our hike, we followed a dirt road climbing gently among small wine yards and flowery meadows. The higher we got the grassier the tracks become but even though we haven’t seen any signs yet it was easy to follow.

After about one kilometer we come across a narrow trail branching off to the right. A small cairn and red paint on the rocks marked the beginning of the trail but if we weren’t paying attention to the Wikiloc recording we followed we would probably miss it.

The trail ran downhill through low shrubs and grassland and was very difficult to follow at first. We lost it altogether a couple of times but kept walking downhill toward a shallow ravine descending down to the valley.

When we reached the bottom of the ravine covered with trees the path become much clearer. We continued our descent through the mossy ravine and soon enough we started hearing the gurgling of a stream nearby.

Once we reached the Olmeios river at the bottom of the valley we were stunned by the beauty of the place. I didn’t expect to find too much water in the stream as the majority of rivers around Athens are seasonal and dry out during late spring.

However, here the current was still strong even at the end of May and the water rushing under the canopy of lush, green plane trees was crystal clear. We took a lunch break at the banks of the river enjoying the peaceful scenery.

After our break, we turned left and walked upstream. We didn’t follow any path per se but it was easy to walk along the riverbanks skipping from boulder to boulder if necessary.

We met a couple of ropes along the way but didn’t really need to use them at this section of the hike as the terrain was mostly flat and the river crossings were easy.

However, about halfway through the gorge things become a little bit more dramatic. The canyon grew narrower and steeper with the crystal clear water rushing through small waterfalls and deep pools.

A small path running on the left side of the canyon and a couple of ropes tied across the river helped us bypass the most challenging section of the canyon.

After a while, the terrain in the gorge flattened and the scenery changed again. The river flowed calmly among grass-covered riverbanks undisturbed by nothing but the occasional dragonfly passing by.

At this point, we come across a trail running up on the left side of the valley. Again, it wasn’t easy to spot and we needed to pay attention to our Wikiloc recording to find it. It took us all the way up to Arapi Spring and a dirt road a little bit higher up.

When we reached the road we turned left and followed it for about 350 meters until a rickety mesh gate. We passed through the gate and continued walking along a rocky trail high above the valley.

After a while, the trail turned into a grassy track leading back to the Valley of the Muses. At the highest point of the path we made a slight detour to a rocky outcrop overlooking the valley.

From here, we enjoyed one last look at the lush green gorge of the Olmeios River surrounded by unspoiled mountains before returning back to our car.

The Valley of the Muses

Once we finished our hike we decided to drive deeper into the valley to explore the remains of the sanctuary to the Muses and the ancient theatre of Ascra.

We drove for about one kilometer following the same dirt road until we spotted a small wooden sign for “Iero Mouson” on the left side of the road. We parked here and followed yet another hardly visible path descending down towards a small stream in search of the archeological site.

Soon enough we realized that “archaeological site” is too strong a word for what’s left here. There were no information tables anywhere to be found and the few remains of the sanctuary were either overgrown by vegetation or covered by an equally ancient-looking tarp.

That being said, the valley is a beautiful place and we enjoyed strolling through its grassy slopes in search of the Muses while taking in the stunning views. And at the end, we found the theater, too….at least I think.

We ended our trip with a meal in Kafeneio O Platanos in Askri. The friendly tavern owner wasn’t too startled by our request for vegetarian dishes and soon enough we were enjoying a tasty dinner in the shade of an old plane tree. Highly recommended!

MORE beautiful hikes not too far from Athens:

• AGALI GORGE HIKE IN CENTRAL EUBOEA
• LIMNI VOULIAGMENIS AND STERNA BEACH HIKE (LOUTRAKI)
• FOREST OF STENI & XEROVOUNI HIKE AT CENTRAL EUBOEA
• MOUNT KITHERONAS HIKE: VILIA, SHELTER OF EOS ELEUSINA, MIKRI KORYFI
• HIKING ON MOUNT GERANEIA: FROM PISIA TO PINTIZA PEAK AND PETRA PERACHORAS
• HIKING THROUGH THE OAK FOREST OF MOGGOSTOS
• OLMEIOS RIVER HIKE AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES
• SKIRITIDA FOREST & THE VLACHOKERASIA TRAIL
• ARTEMISIO HIKE: MALEVOS SUMMIT (1.771 METERS) & CHTENIA
• MOUNT ELIKONAS: HIKING FROM AGIA ANNA TO THE SUMMIT OF PALIOVOUNA
• FLAMPOURITSA GORGE HIKE AT MOUNT ZIRIA
• BEAUTIFUL AUTUMN HIKE AT MOUNT KYLLINI