Milies-Panagiotiko dam-Boufa

The kalderimi to Pavlakia

Distance: 12,8 km
Time: 5,5 h (with stops)
Altitude: from 380 m. (Milies) to 0 m. (Boufa)
Total ascent: 264 m.  Total descent: 642 m.
Signed with red paint marks and various signs
Drinking water on walk: no
Start: Milies square   End: Boufa (Koropi) beach
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       This route begins from Milies on a beautiful kalderimi and continues in the direction of Neochori until we reach the Panagiotiko dam. Then we follow the course of Platanorema stream, until the beach of Boufa (Koropi). There we can have a swim and then return to our starting point via the Boufa-Milies route thus completing the circle, or we can take the bus to Volos from the main asphalt road (timetables at www.ktelvolou.gr). 

        The first part of the walk is the same as in the route Milies-Neochori. Setting off from the square in Milies, we follow the asphalt road downhill towards Volos. Eighty metres further down at a right hand bend in the road, just past a parking area down to our right, we branch off to the left onto a wide paved road that goes gently uphill. Reaching a crossroads, we take the paved road to the right and soon start to descend. This becomes a cement road and it comes out onto the asphalt road to Tsagarada at the last house of Milies, at a point where there is a mirror at a left hand bend in the road.

Leaving Milies

              We descend on a beautiful kalderimi, which continues opposite, towards a stream bed with lush vegetation. Further down, at a bend in the kalderimi to the left, there is a branch to our right that used to serve people using the train station. For information, this branch leads to the main road to Milies at a sharp bend, 100 metres below the road junction that leads to the train station. 

Kalderimi near Agios Nikolaos

 Τhe kalderimi we are following, clear and in good condition, crosses the stream bed (Kakorema) and climbs up the opposite side with an olive grove to its right. When we reach the top of the ridge we meet an earth road. We cross this diagonally and follow the kalderimi towards Neochori, descending gently. Eventually we find another road which leads us a hundred metres further down to the old church of Agios Nikolaos, a remnant of the monastery that used to exist here. Here is a good place to have a stop. Unfortunately, we are not able to admire the notable frescos inside the church, as its doors remain locked.

Agios Nikolaos church

Retracing our steps back, we easily find the continuity of the kalderimi on the other side of the road and follow it to the east. We cross two small stream beds, pass by an old hut and eventually the kalderimi ends, where it comes out onto an earth road, along which we walk uphill. The wider  area  is called Pavlakia. 

Further up, we come out onto the earth road that comes from the settlement Stavrodromi. We go left (eastwards) and after a hundred metres we take the narrow earth road to the right (southeast), which brings us out at a flat area with a threshing floor to the left and a row of cypress trees to the right.

Reaching the plateau with the threshing floor and cypresses

 The path to Neochori, which we follow, goes off to the left after the threshing floor (there is a signpost), initially going downhill in an easterly direction, passes two small stream beds and comes out onto an earth road. Walking down on that  road, we will get to the dam (at the signed road junction below we don`t go left to Neochori, but take the unsigned right branch). 

The ''Panagiotiko'' dam

The dam is providing water to South Pelion from the small artificial lake that was formed, but at the cost of destroying the old stone arched bridge that existed here (the bridge of Malamaki), of which only photographs are left now. You can see them in the photo book ''ΠΕΤΡΙΝΑ ΤΟΞΩΤΑ ΓΕΦΥΡΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΠΗΛΙΟ'' (“Stone arched bridges in Pelion” by Nikos Haratsis, in Greek).

The bridge of Malamakis, now gone forever (photo by Nikos Haratsis)

After the dam, we continue walking down the road, descending parallel to the stream, which is called Platanorema.

After about a kilometer, we come to a right hand bend in the road crossing a small stream. Here a path branches to the left towards Zervochia-Niaou (Afetes)-Afissos and to the right towards Milies. At  that junction we go right downhill.  The path descends, becomes a kalderimi for a short distance, and comes down to the streambed. We don`t cross it, but walk on the stones on left bank near to the water (there is no path on that section). Soon we find a path with an old water tube and follow it. The tube used to bring water to an old watermill, which is now renovated. We can visit the watermill taking the second path junction to the right. 

Platanorema stream near the watermill

Returning back to the path, this soon opens to an earth road, which we follow.  In a short while, we reach a point, marked with red paint, where we can easily cross to the right bank of the stream. Walking on the earth road on the right bank, this opens to the main asphalt next to a bus stop. 

Olive grove near Boufa (in spring)

 We cross the asphalt and continue straight ahead on earth road to get finally to the beach of Boufa (officially Koropi).