Kate Clow - Lycian Trail and Others
- Written by Portal Editor
Kate Clow first came to Turkey in 1989 to sell computer systems. In 1992 she moved to Antalya and, out of sheer interest, began researching the ancient roads that connected the cities of Greek and Roman times.
In 1995 she linked a series of hiking trails and developed them into Turkey's first long-distance hiking trail. The interest of many international hikers quickly made this long-distance trail along historically significant places known. Shortly thereafter, in 1999, "The Lycian Way" was officially opened. Just a few years later, in 2004, the St. Paul's path was opened. Extensive directions with hiking maps were published by Kate Clow for both long-distance hiking trails. In 2008 another hiking guide for the Kaçkar Mountains in NE Turkey was published. Kate still leads trekking tours today and finds the Lycian Way surprisingly unspoilt and varied, despite the fact that it is now heavily frequented.
Remainders of the hiking guides with tour maps are available in English here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Lycian Way by Kate Clow
What really distinguishes this route is its intimate, almost careless, relationship with history
Tim Salmon, Sunday Times
Famed British Explorer Freya Stark ones wrote: “There are not so many places left where magic reigns without interruption, and of all those I know the coast of Lycia is the most magical”
Kate Clow and her faithful billhook have spend years clearing the scrub from ancient Roman roads and mule trails of pilgrims and miners, invaders and shepherds. She has stitched them into a 300-mile trail between Antalya and Fethiye which switches alluringly between high pastures and shoreside villages, historical ruins and mountain summits.
Illustrated book with route map €15.00 additional postage and packaging, to be ordered from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
St Paul Trail by Kate Clow with Terry Richardson
Deep in the Western Taurus Mountains of Turkey´s Mediterranean coast, along ancient Roman Roads and shepherds´ tracks, live the ghosts of St. Paul and his followers.
Paul came here intent on preaching to Rome´s most influential Asian “provinces”. Today, the ground-breaking moment converges with the archaeology, history, religion, and folklore of civilizations past and present on the sage-covered slopes and pine-clad hills of southwestern Turkey.
Kate Clow, assisted by Terry Richardson and volunteer team of intrepid hiking enthusiasts, has recreated the overgrown route taken by St. Paul on his missionary journeys through Asia Minor.
Between Perge / Aspendos and Antioch lies a wealth of undiscovered, beautiful countryside with canyons, waterfalls, cedar forests, limestone peaks soaring to almost 3.000 metre, and the exquisitely blue waters of Lake Egirdir, Turkish fourth largest and most beautiful lake. The trail forges it´s way through this dramatic landscape, linking together sections of the Roman roads , medieval Selcuk and Ottoman trade routes, droving path used by the semi-nomadic Yoruk people, villages footpaths and forestry tracks.
Illustrated book with route map €15.00 additional postage and packaging, to be ordered from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Kackar – Trekking in Turkey´s Black Sea Mountain
The Pontic Alps (Kackar) were always a wild refuge from powerful rulers, refuge of individuality against conformity. As the sparkling valley leads down to the plains, the Kackar, behind, lift up their heads to the light and shade of the sky.
Before the summer hay is cut, the meadows are a riot of spring flowers – anemones, poppies, campanulas and, a lower levels, dusty white umbellifers.
At snowmelt, the minutest treasures await the trekker – delicate crocus or pink merendera, rich blue grape hyacinth and scilla, and the bells of fritillaria, deep brown outside but with yellow inners.
This guide and map describe 32 routes in the Kackar Mountains, ranging from hald day walks to multi-day treks. With it, you can follow paved pack-horse routes over passes between the granite spires or walk traditional footpath between timeless villages and high pastures where hardy locals graze their flocks.
Illustrated book with route map €15.00 additional postage and packaging, to be ordered from: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All three books are also available as a collection for €36.00 plus postage and packaging at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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