Chóra - Skárkos - Elliniká - Agia Triáda - Agios Prokópios - Chóra

Evaluation: This hike leads you first of all to the very interesting excavations of the acropolis of Skárkos. Then you continue with a beautiful trail (marked by trail markers [1]) through the interior of the island of Ios. You arrive at Elliniká, from where you should follow the paved road to the chapel of Agia Triáda. A gravel path then leads you up to the monastery of Agios Prokópios and finally you can return to Chóra by following some beautiful trails. Deserves ***.
[Updated by Raymond on April the 29^th, 2023.]
[The translation of this walk was made with some help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: It takes only 20 minutes to reach the site of Skárkos, then you follow for a little more than 45 minutes some beautiful trails to Elliniká. The walk up to Agios Prokópios requires half an hour, and finally you need 1h05 to return to Chóra (always in AWT). The actual walking time thus amounts to a total of about 2h40, for a total distance of 8,52 km – as for us, we walked from 11am to 16pm - a total time (TWT) of 5 hours.

Route description: (0h00) You start from the square between the first and second mill, where you have a beautiful view: you go down towards restaurant The Mills, then you continue to go down to the left of this restaurant on the wide staircase which gets to the main street. You take a left there, you keep left again and soon you arrive at the platía Ioánnis G. Stinis platiá with the blue-domed church.
You leave the main street and you turn right for a moment, then right again and you see the sign towards Skárkos and Agios Prokópios + [1].

(0h02) The paved street goes down and becomes a concrete monopáti leaving the village. You always go straight and therefore you do NOT go down to the left.
Arriving down, there is a staircase on your right - you veer to the left and a little further, you still hold to the left, to the left of a chapel [1].

[The path to the right is also walk [1]: it goes to Agios Prokópios and you will follow this path during your way back.]

(0h07) You thus keep to the left and descend now on the right side of a wide valley. Near the last house, you keep again to the left and the concrete becomes a nice pavement and a staircase Your path describes a turn to the left, then right, and you go down on well-maintained steps.
After some minutes, you keep of course to the left, continuing on the main trail - and you continue to go down.

(0h17) You get a beautiful view of the hill of Skárkos and by following a staircase you come to the right of the entry.

[This archaeological site dates from the beginning of the Bronze Age, and more particularly of the Kéros-Sýros civilization, which was at its peak in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. The acropolis was very well located, near a sheltered harbour and the fertile land near Káto Kámbos.
The site was discovered in 1984 and excavations began only in 1986. The site was completely renovated in the years 2002-2008, when, among other things, the circular walls that support the acropolis were built. In 2008, the restoration has received the "European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage".
You can see 11 small squares, with 6 groups of houses and 35 houses in total. The objects which were discovered are to be found in the museum of Ios.]

(0h20) When leaving the site, you continue of course to the left. The path is still well paved, but a minute later, it becomes a normal monopáti, which continues on earth or rock. A little further, you keep to the right and you remain on the main trail: the view of the fertile valley and the continuation of the trail becomes very beautiful.
A little more than 4 minutes later, you arrive more or less in the bed of the river, with many oleanders in bloom (18 May 2010). You keep again to the right at a bifurcation – you thus remain on the right of the bed.

(0h32) After a beautiful stretch, you reach the Pertesis-bridge and you continue on the other side [1]. The climb that follows is really beautiful: the hill is planted with olive trees and the pavement of the rocky trail is sometimes very nice. You describe a few turns and you climb faster now, with the result that you get behind you a beautiful view over Chóra and the row of windmills.

(0h41) At the top, you reach a small gravel road, which you follow up to the right (sign Chóra 55’ / Agios Prokópios 35’ + [1]). You pass on the right side of a chapel and some stables, then the road winds all the time left and right.
So you continue on the gravel road, also after 3 minutes, next to a wall crowned by a fence.

[(0h52) Here there is a path on the left-hand side, to the right of an electricity pole - this is the path that you can follow during the walk from Chóra to Agios Ioannis and the small Profítis ilías.]

The road passes a few houses and continues meandering above the fertile plain of Kámbos. Finally, there is a bifurcation where you keep to the left, and you get in this way to the asphalt road, next to a house – you are in Elliniká. [1]

(1h04) You follow the road to the right for 400 meters: first you pass a chapel with a small side road to the left, but you should continue until the second chapel of Agia Triáda - another gravel road starts here to the left, in a curve of the road to the right (sign Agios Prokópios 15’ + [1].

(1h11) This pretty pleasant road meanders above a valley full of oleanders, and already after 10 minutes, you discover in front of you the buildings of Agios Prokópios.

(1h21) A little further on, you have to pay attention: a small path goes down to the left (white sign and [1]) and you now follow a vague, well-marked path (= and [1]). It crosses a small valley and continues on the left side. At the end it becomes much clearer, but after a fairly difficult climb you get to a small road. You continue to the left of a house and a chapel and at a crossroads (white signs) you go down again. Finally, you go up to the right until you reach some terraces. (1h36)

A masonry staircase goes up towards the buildings (the chapel and a house), but the land is now private and you have to picnic on the terraces, with a very beautiful view of the green valley, full of cypresses.

(1h36) For the way back, you go down the stairs through the terraces to the south, you pass the path that you have followed and continue straight. Then you cross the river bed on a concrete path. You keep here to the far right and you arrive in this way at the beautiful trail that goes up between walls. It is not until after 5 minutes you see a trail marker [2].

After 5-6 minutes, you get to a long flat stretch, and you can see how the path continues far ahead of you and veers to the right. On your left you can see the Profítis Ilías very clearly with its antennae - on its slope you see the line of the path [3].

(1h51) A little further on, you begin to descend on large flat stones: you see very clearly Síkinos in front of you, with to its right the vague contours of Folégandros, Sífnos and Antíparos. Your path describes a right turn and continues as if on a balcony above the wide Kámbos plain.

(2h01) You begin a descent after a long flat stretch and you enjoy again a magnificent view of the bay of Gialós and of Síkinos, to the right of Chóra, and also of the houses of Káto Kámbos.

(2h15) Finally, you can enjoy a general view of Chóra, with the bay of Gialós and Síkinos, and with a general view of Skárkos hill on the right.

(2h27) After 12 nice minutes, you finally arrive at a small concrete road next to a large metal gate and you follow it to the right and down. You get to the asphalt road, next to a chapel. You follow the road to the left for 2 minutes, then you take, in the turn of the road and just passed a heavy electricity pole, a little concrete street that goes down to the right between the houses [1].

(2h35) After a few minutes you get to a side-path, next to a chapel - this path comes from Skárkos and you followed it this morning. You take a left of course, the concrete path veers to the right and becomes a paved staircase-path [1]. You continue now straight - the trail that goes to the left leads to the mills ... -, first on concrete, then on a paved street that finally gets to the Platía Ioánnis Stínis.
You take a left next to the church and goes to the left again in the main street. You keep to then right and gets to the wide staircase, where you go up to the right until you arrive next to the first mills. (2h42)