At the foothills of the White Mountains, the province of Sfakia is home to one of the most famous gorges in Europe, the imposing Gorge of Samaria. The trail is crossed by thousands of visitors every summer. It starts from the plateau of Omalos, descends through a magical dense forest of cypresses and pine trees, passes between very narrow passages with vertical walls of a height of up to 500m, before reaching the seaside village of Agia Roumeli. Other well-known hiking canyons of the region are the gorge of Imbros gorge that starts near the plateau Askyfou, the wild canyon of Aradena, the lush green Sfakiano Gorge, the Gorge Kallikratis, the rugged canyon of Tripiti and the famous gorge of Agia Irini which ends at the beach of Sougia. Some green hiking canyons are located at the region of Zourva and Karanou, while West Crete also hosts the impressive gorges of Diktamos, Lissos, Topolia, Asfendou, Kambos, Sirikari, Sassalos and more.
The small piney gorge of Keratida starts above Koustogerako and after 2 hours of trekking meets the seaside E4 trail that connects Sougia to Agia Roumeli. Initially the course is on the side of the gorge. The downhill is steep and we have to be careful, as the gorge is inhospitable.
Trahinos Gorge starts close to Trahinos hamlet and is relatively short. It is one of the greenest gorges of Crete, while its walls are very narrow, being almost invisible from the air. The dense vegetation in many places darkens the riverbed. Like Vavouledo, Trahinos Gorge has a trail in it.
Pigaida is a long wooded gorge with very narrow passages ending at Zourva. Along its course there are several descents that need rope and make its crossing harsh.
Gorge Perdikaris is located between villages Miriokefala and Argoules, along the borders of the prefectures of Rethymnon and Chania. It is a rugged canyon with steep gradients, low vegetation and large opening throughout its length.
At the lowest point of the ruined village Kolokasia, Sfaki Provice, at the church of the Virgin Mary starts forming a stream. The stream collects the water of the village. After crossing the olive grove of the village it turns to a small, but rugged, gorge called Rechtas or Rektas. Its name means waterfall in the local dialect. A few meters after the start the gorge it forms, indeed, a spectacular waterfall about 20 meters high.
Half an hour above the archaeological site of Lissos, in a totally secret position called Lichnou Laki there is a small and very beautiful canyon. The gorge is located in the district of Selino, below Prodromi village, south of Chania and its entrance is accessed by a dirt road that runs from the village (to the south). The very small canyon is quite green and is divided into two different sections. The first section is dominated by lentisks, junipers and oaks and the second is covered by pine trees despite the destructive fire that had previously burnt the region.
The small, but beautiful, Kaliakoudes Gorge is formed in the area between the villages of Paidohori, Nio Chorio and Machairi in the province of Apokoronas, Chania. It is basically a continuation of the stream of Skotini, which constitutes a tributary of the River Kiliaris. The canyon is only 1.5 km long, it has about 6 rapels and the entire length of the gorge requires the use of technical canyoning equipment (ropes). The highest of the descents is about 8 meters high.
Potamos beach in northwestern Gavdos is formed at the outlet of various small streams. Their soils are mainly clay, which makes them create special formations as they are dissolved by rain and wind. Some of the formed streams pass through harder rocks, creating deep canyons with waterfalls of amazing beauty, which, however, can be seen by someone with water even in winter relatively rarely.