Author
George Papadellis | SG Head
Lefka Ori (The White Mountains or The Madares) is a unique mountain range located in West Crete, in the area of Chania. The mountains consist mainly of limestone, with a light grey to black colour, and their name has been got from the white colour of their peaks. The White Mountain has rich history as a refuge for the heroic Cretans who fought against rulers of the history of Crete, such as the Venetians and the Ottomans, and also during the 2nd World War.
Photo by: iStock.com | Travel_Nerd
Lefka Ori Attractions
The highest White Mountain peak is named Pachnes (altitude: 2.453 m or 8.048 ft), which is also the second highest peak in Crete (after Psiloritis) and the tenth highest peak in Greece. The White Mountain has also more than 30 peaks over 2.000 m altitude, almost 50 gorges (Samaria Gorge is the most famous of all), at least 5 extraordinary plateaus at significant height (between 500 m and 1.000 m), namely Anopolis, Askifou, Impros, Kallikratis and Omalos, and the two caves of Greece with a depth larger than 1 Km, namely the Cave of the Lion and the Gourgouthakas cave. At the central and southern part of the White Mountains, the area is called the high desert because of the plateaus at 1.800 m, a unique moon-type landscape of the Earth's north helisphere.
Photo by: Andloukakis, Ethnikos Drymos Samarias, CC BY-SA 4.0
Access
To access the White Mountains there are a number of itineraries and entrance points.
From the north: the road to Omalos, the entrance of Samaria Gorge
From the east: the road to Chora Sfakion
From the west: the road to Omalos from Sougia
From north-east: the road from Argyroupoli and the road from Frangokastello
Refuges
The most recently built refuge is Svourichti (1994), with a capacity of 20 persons, at 1.980 m altitude.
The second most recent is Tavris (1992), with a capacity of 45 persons, at 1.200 m altitude.
The third refuge is Kallergi (1970), with a capacity of 45 persons, at 1.650 m altitude.
The oldest refuge is Volikas (1958), with a capacity of 30 persons, at 1.450 m altitude.
For bookings, you can contact the Greek Mountaineering Association of Chania.
Map of Lefka Ori
Trails
In scale of difficulty (easy, medium, hard, very hard), the trails of the White Mountains, according to topoguide.gr are:
Easy
Loutro - Finikas
Imbros Gorge
Medium
Poria - Agios Nikolaos
Zourva - Tromarissa Fountain
E4 Agia Roumeli - Sfakia
Samaria Gorge
E4 Kallergis - Katsivelis
Lakki - Omalos
Agia Irini Gorge
Gero Prinos - Volika
Agios Ioannis - Agia Roumeli
Aradena Gorge
Agios Ioannis - Marmara
Anopoli - Loutro
Anopoli - Marmara
Anopoli - Chora Sfakion
Photo by: 237603362 © Grzegorz Kordus | Dreamstime.com
Hard
Tromarissa - Poria
E4 Xyloskalo - Kallergi Refuge
E4 Xyloskalo - Koustogerako
Omalos - Kallergi Refuge
Lakki - Zourva
E4 Sougia - Agia Roumeli
E4 Koustogerako Sougia
Theriso - Katsiveli
Volika Refuge - Katsiveli
Agios Ioannis - Katsiveli
Anopoli - Pachnes
Katsiveli - Anopoli
E4 Katsiveli - Askifou
Very Hard
Elygia Gorge
Tromarissa Gorge
