Skopelos Trails: A British woman uncovering — literally — paths of Greek island’s simple past

ELIOS, Greece – When Heather Parsons first came to the little Greek isle of Skopelos in 1986, it had one asphalt road. That was probably one too many as the island had no cars. Well, it did have one bus but the main mode of transportation was mules. Electricity was best described as occasional.

Last week Marina and I went to Skopelos for our fifth straight year. We again stayed at the beautiful Panormos Beach Hotel where we can walk across the street to the beach or swim in the pool next to the bar with the view of the Aegean Sea. Our biggest decision every day is which one of the yummy restaurants strung along the beachfront we’d eat lunch and dinner at.

No one can stop modern progress, but Heather is trying to bring back some of Skopelos’ humble past, one chainsaw at a time.

Her Skopelos Trails organization, in conjunction with the cultural exchange program Workaway Volunteers, have cleared 200 miles of trails that were once Skopelos’ main transport arteries.

She looks for clues of hidden trails, then comes in with weed wackers, chainsaws and hedge trimmers to clear paths for hikers seeking an alternative to sitting on a Greek beach all day.

She does this while butting heads with government officials, foreign residents, global warming and exploding tourism. But she is winning the war. I hiked one of the trails with her Saturday and it was indeed a part of Greece I’d never seen in 12 trips to the country.

“I’m getting a new lease on life,” she said. “You can walk all day sometimes and not really see a motor car.”

Our Skopelos

Marina and I have always been attracted to Skopelos’ isolation. It’s only 90 miles north of Athens but to reach it, we must fly into Skiathos, the island about 10 miles west of Skopelos, then take a ferry over. 

It is the greenest of Greek islands where yoga retreats are becoming popular. No other island has 80 percent of its land covered by forests. The Greek government has regulations against deforestation and Natura 2000, a European Union environmental agency, lists it as a protected nature area.

The Ancient Romans loved it so much it had a settlement here. A Roman wall still stands not far from Panormos, the village where we stay. Skopelos has fewer than 5,000 residents; Panormos has about 50.  

Our daily life in Panormos puts new meaning into the word “slacker”: breakfast, beach, lunch, beach, nap, drinks, dinner, nightcap. Stress is as foreign to us as the Greek language.

But how I wish I could’ve experienced Skopelos when I first visited Greece in 1978. Or even in the 1990s when Skopelos still held strong to its innocent roots.

Then came 2008 and Mamma Mia! Besides being without question the worst movie in the history of cinema, the movie highlighted Skopelos’ beautiful beaches and iconic sea views from a clifftop church.

Soon hotels popped up and tourists poured in. Skiathos started running daily boats for day trippers, including us which is how we discovered it. In the mid-1980s, Skopelos had five hotels.

Today there are nearly 600. 

Part of Heather’s motivation is tourism has cost Skopelos part of its soul.

“Absolutely,” she said. “It’s crossed the line. I’ve talked to friends who’ve had houses here since the ‘80s and ‘90s. They all say the same thing. There was a point where we were absorbing it. We didn’t like it but you could tolerate it. In the last two years it’s catapulted forward. It’s gone nuts.

“I was talking to a woman last night who said, ‘Oh, it’s the film.’

“No. No. No,” Heather added. “We had it before the film. We had a lot of tourism but we were able to tolerate it. But something has happened the last two years that had nothing to do with the film.”

Hotel pools have taken so much water that the water table is dropping. Skopelos had a lot of rain last winter but it didn’t help.

“Springs that spewed out water with such power are now just dribbling,” Heather said.

Heather’s story

Heather picked us up in her beat-up 2013 Skoda which has seen more than its share of rough trails. We climbed the windy asphalt roads into the forested hills so green it felt like jumping into a giant emerald quilt.

She developed a love for nature growing up in the lush greenery outside Kent, England. She had taken a career break from buying raw materials for production and took a job as a resort rep with Laskarina Holidays, a United Kingdom tour operator that specialized in Greece. She came to Skopelos in 1986 as Laskarina’s resident representative. Its raw, unspoiled beauty reminded her of her childhood.

She returned to live and work for Thomas Cook in 1987 and bought a cottage the following year. During her many walks with her dog, she noticed hidden stone paths. She became obsessed to find more. With no regular trail maintenance in the early ‘90s, she began inviting friends to help.

By 2009, volunteers from around the world joined her explorations through Workaway. She taught English to rural islanders, some of whom told her of their parents having a cobbled road near the home at one time.

She’d spot edges of road hidden under overgrowth. In the mid-20th century, these roads were “the original highways of the island,” she said. The islanders once ran their mules up the roads to pick their olives or plums.

“I’d just have a little piece of glimpses of stone,” she said. “Then I’d pull back the turf and there was this pristine road underneath. It was really exciting.”

She has since uncovered 33 routes. One leads to an ancient bridge. Others lead to old mill houses. She has pieced together (“like a jigsaw puzzle,” she said) many into circular hikes, ranging from an hour to seven hours. All are accessible from the main Skopelos Town but also from various villages dotting the island.

They’re all listed in her book, Skopelos Trails, which she took over in 1994 and is now in its fourth edition. It’s one of three books she has published about Skopelos nature.

She’s had problems with the elimination of the island’s forestry department and the electric company cutting down trees and blocking paths. But she keeps returning three days a week, up to five hours a day, clearing paths and cutting weeds that can make paths disappear like a rabid disease.

What did the locals think of her efforts?

“They thought I was nuts,” she said.

Skopelos Trails hike

We stopped at a bend in the road next to a small religious shrine and a trailhead leading down a long narrow path. This is the Retsina Trail, named for the tree resin used to make Latex goods.

We were near the village of Elios (pop. about 400), the former depot where the resin would be taken to the mainland for processing. Resin is also the source of Retsina, arguably Europe’s nastiest tasting wine.

As her dog, Molly, ran everywhere, we walked past olive, plum and chestnut trees and even grapevines.

“They say there used to be more wine than water,” she said.

Heather showed me some of the ivy and weeds that cover up the paths if not regularly tended. Looking at brush and weeds and trees as thick as the Amazon, I thought how labor intensive this job is. Pulling and weeding in the heat of summer and wet grounds in winter, you must really love an island to uncover its roots, literally.

I asked what drives her passion.

“I want to reinstate something beautiful that is already there so other people can enjoy it,” she said. “Not just keep it to myself. It’s here. Why not? All I’m doing is reinstating something that is already there. I’m not reinventing the wheel or anything.”

We reached a fork in the path to a small clearing where we could see the sky blue Aegean and much of Skopelos. She told me to listen. I couldn’t hear a thing. No cars. No voices. I’d occasionally heard a bird sing.

What’s the best thing she likes about hiking her trails?

“Peace and quiet,” she said. “Getting in touch with nature. It’s in your face. You can come along here and goodness knows what you’re going to see.”

Returning uphill to the car, she took us back down the windy road, with gorgeous views of the Aegean and distant islands around every turn. A large herd of goats blocked our path and she asked the random-toothed goat herder, in fluent Greek, when his daughter would return to Skopelos.

I was ready for a poolside beer. Beach? Pool? Beer? That’s all in Heather’s past.

“I’m lucky enough to say that my job is my fun,” she said.

If you’re thinking about going …

How to get there: Numerous discount airlines fly direct to Skiathos from various cities in Italy and the United Kingdom. Round trip flights from Athens this fall start at €184. Several ferry companies run regularly to two ports on Skopelos. Seajets took us to Skopelos in 15 minutes for €52.83 for two people. The 30-minute trip back cost €43.98. No need to book ahead except July and August.

Where to stay: Panormos Beach Hotel, Panormos village, 30-2424-022-711, https://www.panormosbeach.com, info@panormosbeach.com. Our home away from Rome. It’s listed as a two-star hotel but feels four-star. Big rooms with views of the Aegean Sea. A big pool with cushy lounge chairs next to a lively bar. Friendly, young English-speaking staff who know the local culture. We paid €950 for seven nights including an excellent buffet breakfast.

Where to eat: Korali, Agnontas Port, 30-24240-22407/30-683-4701-488, https://www.koralirestaurant.gr, info@koralirestaurant.gr, 1-11 p.m. Thursday-Monday, 2-11 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. Locals say it’s the best seafood restaurant on Skopelos. They’re right. It’s the best we’ve had and the only thing better than the food is the atmosphere. Located in the village of Agnontas, two villages south of Panormos and reachable by a €3 bus ride, it’s right on the port. Check out our table above. I paid €73.60 for two including wine.

When to go: Panormos all but closes by mid-October when the weather cools. It even snows in winter. Despite its isolation, it gets crowded in July and August. This first week in September had daily temperatures in the low 80s and night time lows in the mid-70s. Sunny every day.

For more information: Skopelos.com, https://skopelos.com.