Description
The Gnafkio natural trail is located in the mountainous area of Kampos and Tsakistras. The beauty of this place is simply overwhelming and captivating. 6.5 km of lush greenery, dense vegetation and towering trees right in the heart of the Paphos forest. It is truly a nature’s wonder.
The trail is linear with a total distance of 13 km including the return. The trail includes sections with steep downhills and uphills and hence it is considered to be difficult to very difficult. The total elevation gain/loss is around 750 metres including the return with an estimated time to finish the hike 4-5 hours.
Table of Contents
Viewpoints
The trail offers magnificent views along the route. It is so green with the moss playing a key role in making the whole landscape absolutely gorgeous! The towering trees cover most of the first half of the trail with several sections opening like a window for viewing the beautiful Peter’s valley (Selladi tou Petrou).
The second part of the trail alternate to a different terrain and view. Still the moss is present but the path is wider, which later on ends up to a gravel road, but still so beautiful to hike. This part provides a continuous view of the Troodos mountain range. Doing the hike in the winter, the addition of the snow at Troodos mountains makes the experience even more magical.
Starting points
The Selladi tou Petrou – Gnafkio natural trail is located around ~ 6 km away from Kykkos Monastery towards Kampos tis Tsakistras. It is linear with both of its ends being accessible by car. Therefore the options of how to reach the starting points are listed below:
- Through the road between Kykkos Monastery towards Tsakistra village. The trail head is depicted in the GPS Map but also in the Gnafkio natural trail information table. If you start from this point be prepared for a steep downhill but totally manageable.
- Through the road towards the Kykkos Water Plant. The starting point is depicted in the Gnafkio natural trail information table as the trail end row. The trail begins as a gravel road with mild downhill.
Personal comments
The trail is secluded and absolutely stunning. The first leg of the trail is a very narrow path with a steep descent at the beginning, which then becomes a normal downhill route. It is probably the greenest trail I have seen in Cyprus. I hiked the trail in February so maybe it played a role. The path was conquered by moss, had dense vegetation and felt like you were deep in the forest.
At the end of the valley the landscape changes a bit. It felt like autumn since the ground was full of leaves. After around 100 meters the route becomes wider like a gravel road but still very beautiful. Everything is so green and refreshing with a continuous view to the Troodos mountain range.
The Gnafkio trail is considered difficult to very difficult. The first part has a steep descent (and steep ascent on the way back) and the second part has a mild uphill route. The trail route forms the letter V like in the Elevation Statistics section, which when done with the return it forms the letter W.
The hiker has the option to do the trail one way, hence do only 6.5 km (with estimated duration 2-3 hours), since the ending point is a road. The GPS location of both points (starting/ending) are depicted in the section Gnafkio natural trail information table.
Gnafkio natural trail information table
| Description | |
| Starting points | 35.01357, 32.73082 (link) |
| Ending point | 34.99574, 32.7504 (link) |
| Distance | 6.5 km ( 13 km with the return ) |
| Difficulty (1 – easy, 2 – moderate, 3 – difficult) | 3 (+) |
| Trail type | Linear |
| ETA finish time | 4-5 hours |
| Elevation Gain/Loss | ~750 metres (includes the return) |
| Maximum Altitude | ~931 metres |
Elevation Stats
GPS map
Gallery
5 nearby trails
- Kykkos – Panayia – Chrysorogiatissa
- Kykkos To Konizi Trail
- Kykkos – Selladi tis ppoufous
- Selladi Tou Staxtou To Trypilos Trail
- Panthea trail
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