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.
Cyclamen Gorge at Aletrouvari 
The Gorge of Cyclamen or St George Gorge starts from the settlement Aletrouvari (altitude 300m), passes east of the village of Agios (St) Georgios and ends at the village Vandes (altitude 50 m).
Gorge Chalase or Porofarago starts near the village Sassalos and ends before the village Makronas after 4 hours of course in dense vegetation. Crossing it is not very easy because at one point it has a large scree (chalase) and there is no trail.
The Gorge Fygou is a small, but very beautiful short canyon located near Sougia and is a sub-gorge of the popular gorge of Agia Irini. From this narrow passage the rebels of the area escaped to Sfakia mountains during the several revolutions (hence the name Fygou, i.e. escape).
Its exit is located in the village Nomikiana, Sfakia province. In Chionistra there are two different streams in calcareous soils which after one hour walking each merge to form the gorge of Kapni. The canyon is quite long and walking in it takes about 4 hours. It is one of the difficult and dangerous gorges of Crete with craggy riverbed which in some places creates dry waterfalls and requires climbing.
The Gorge of Katsouna, near Vrysses, is believed to be the Xenia Street of Herodotus, according to who the guests of ancient Pergamos arrived through here in order to not have visual contact with the forts of the town. The length of the gorge is about one kilometer and starts from Vrysses to reach the entrance of the ancient city.
Vavouledo canyon starts about 1km east of the village Hamalevri. A trail runs along the gorge. Near the village Lidiana, the canyon joins the Gorge of Trahinos and the merged river runs till the "cosmopolitan" neighborhood of the Palea Roumata, Arhontika, where you can eat at the taverns.
The canyon of Prasses or Askidia is located in a wooded area of the White Mountains. Its exit is located near the village Askidia (altitude 480m), which is a part of the village Prasses, hence the two names. To find the starting point of the canyon you have to drive on the road that heads from Chania to Sougia and turn at the intersection of Petras Seli leading to Omalos Plateau.
Maganistra gorge starts from the deserted settlement of Pateriana and ends at Lousakies after 3 km. Its sides are the peaks of Kouvara and Profitis Ilias. There is water flowing till late spring and course inside it is of medium difficulty.
