Full Day 8h
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Private
Moderate
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Zaros is known from the antiquity for the water spring which still provides fresh water. The trip from Heraklion to the Lake of Zaros takes about an hour and a half. The same goes for the return. The forest of Rouvas, in the gorge of Saint Nicholas, is an important ecosystem of holly trees of national interest.
The hiking path starts from the lake of Zaros and it is part of the E4 trail. We follow the path in the gorge of Agios Nikolaos, where we walk along the river bed, which has a lot of water on spring and several waterfalls and ponds are formed.
After 2 hours (almost 5 km) we will find ourselves at the enchanting holly forest of Rouvas. At Ai Giannis, we will find a landscaped picnic area. There is a mountain shelter, toilets, benches and a spring where we can enjoy a brief snack.
At this point we will have to decide if we will continue to the location “Dyo Prini”, where we can admire the view to the forest of Rouvas, Zaros and Messara plane, or if we will return to the lake.
