Izmir's Efes-Mimas Trail
In my first year in Turkey, I hiked the trail that links many of Izmir Province's most incredible ancient sites
I arrived in Turkey needing a challenge — a challenge I could choose for myself.
That challenge, I found soon after my arrival, in the Efes-Mimas Trail, a network of trails that criss-cross the Izmir Peninsula like Arachne’s web — and, speaking of Arachne, her city of Colophon lies along the trail; I have visited it three times!
When I set out on the trail, I knew very little about hiking in this region. Most of my hikes had taken place in the United States, in the canyons of Arizona, the Rocky Mountains, and in the wooded hills of Tennessee, Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. I learned Aegean-style hiking the hard way, but the scars and scratches faded, even as the experiences remain vivid.
There is no single trail leading from Efes (the ancient city of Ephesus) to Mimas — an ancient city on the northern side of the Peninsula at the base of Mount Mimas, the mountain featured in every sunset photo from Izmir. I cobbled a trail together from the 49 listed trails that took me from point to point.
The trail begins at the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (just outside the modern town of Selcuk). It’s a dramatic place to begin, the site of one of the world’s Seven Wonders. Among the ancient sites I visited on my treks were Notion, Klaros, and Colophon, a city once sacked by Achilles. There was Lebedos and Teos along the southern coast of the Peninsula, and across a short stretch of hills, I found Clazomenae and, of course, old Mimas, home of that personification of vainglory, Narcissus.
The length of the trail I followed ended at 223.5 kilometers, traveled over sixteen stages.
Over the next few weeks, I will post the five highlights of the Efes-Mimas Trail. These are the trails I take my friends to, now that I know the places to see again and again, as well as those places to skip.
My first time over the trail was solo, with friends joining me on only one of the 16 legs. My next visits will be with a group. This trail is just too good not to share.
Stay tuned… and SUBSCRIBE if you haven’t already.