Orlias → Koromilia → Petrostrouga → Skourta → Laimos → Apostolidis

Distance: 15.3 km
Ascent: +2,590 m
Time: 8–9.5 h
Start elevation: 310 m

Tap or click a waypoint for its name and elevation; arrows show the direction of travel. The waypoint table below carries the same points, with elevations and cumulative distances.

Elevation profile

Climbs from 310 m to 2,697 m over 15.3 km. Elevations are smoothed DEM samples — hover or drag the profile for a reading.

Why choose this route

The quiet north-east approach: waterfalls in the first ten minutes, beech shade almost to 1,900 m, two staffed refuges that let you split the climb sensibly, and the Skourta–Laimos ridge finale with Stefani ahead of you. It avoids the Prionia crowds entirely — and at 2,590 m of ascent from 310 m it is the biggest climb on this site after the Enipeas line.

The route, stage by stage

Stage lengths are measured along the mapped track. The split times share the published 8–9.5 h out between the stages by distance and climb — scree, scrambling and route-finding take longer than that arithmetic suggests, so read the splits as a rhythm rather than a schedule, and add your own stops.

Climbs 40 m in almost no horizontal distance to Orlias waterfalls (350 m) — 0.1 km from the trailhead.
Ten minutes in. The Red Rock (Κόκκινος Βράχος) waterfall and its emerald pool are a further detour of about 2 km and 1.5 h return from the canyon floor.
Climbs 670 m over 4 km to Koromilia refuge (1,020 m) — 4.1 km from the trailhead, about 2 h 25 min of walking.
Privately run, 16 beds, spring water outside, a restaurant and a fireplace. Open June–September plus many weekends and holidays; book on koromiliarefuge.gr or +30 6942 243349.
Climbs 920 m over 4.8 km to Petrostrouga refuge (1,940 m) — 8.9 km from the trailhead, about 3 h 10 min of walking.
72 beds, run by the Hellenic Rescue Team and open more or less year-round. Drinks and water are sold here. Published elevations range 1,919–1,950 m.
Climbs 540 m over 3 km to Skourta peak (2,476 m) — 11.8 km from the trailhead, about 1 h 55 min of walking.
Where the alpine zone and the 360° views begin. Height given as 2,476 m (OSM) or 2,485 m depending on source.
Contours 0.7 km, near enough level, to Laimos ridge (2,500 m) — 12.6 km from the trailhead, about 15 min of walking.
The "neck" between the Enipeas gorge and the Papa Rema drops — a wide path along a narrow crest, airy rather than technical in summer.
Climbs 70 m over 0.8 km to Giosos Pass (2,568 m) — 13.3 km from the trailhead, about 20 min of walking.
Πέρασμα Γιώσου — short rocky step onto the plateau rim; fixed rope when snowed. Greek guidebooks also call it the Step (Σκαλιά) of Giosos. Tagged in OpenStreetMap as a saddle at 2,568 m.
Climbs 130 m over 1.4 km to Giosos Apostolidis refuge (2,697 m) — 14.7 km from the trailhead, about 40 min of walking.
The goal — highest staffed refuge in the Balkans, run by SEO Thessaloniki, open June–October with 66–80 beds and a glass emergency room that is always unlocked. Tap water is melted snow and not potable; bottled water is sold. OSM tags 2,690 m against the refuge's own 2,697 m.

Getting back to your car

Out-and-back with the refuge split, which is the natural plan: down to Petrostrouga or Koromilia for the night, then the canyon path back to the chapel.
Descending to Gortsia instead is easy walking but awkward logistics, and worth being honest about: the road back to the Orlias trailhead runs down to Litochoro, north to Dion and up again, with no bus, no realistic hitch and a long taxi fare. Arrange a pickup before you start.

Things to know

Normally two days. Nothing here is technical, but +2,590 m in one push is a lot, and the refuges exist to break it: Koromilia at 1,020 m after 2–3 h, or Petrostrouga at 1,940 m after 5–6 h.
Koromilia is privately managed by Vangelis Giannikos and Efi Keramidioti — not by EOS Katerini, whatever older listings say. Sixteen beds (one source says 18), a spring outside, meals and a generator; June–September plus many weekends and holidays. koromiliarefuge.gr, +30 6942 243349.
Waymarking thins between Koromilia and Petrostrouga: one source calls the leg well marked, another says marking is "not the strong point of the area". Carry the track and a map.
There is a Kanalakia spring on a short side-branch at about 1,320 m, with no published coordinates, and one source lists the whole leg as waterless. Treat it as unreliable and fill at Koromilia.
Nothing to drink between Petrostrouga and the plateau, and no shelter either — storms hit the Skourta–Laimos ridge hard.
Published figures vary: about 15–15.5 km and +2,540–2,650 m in total. The 14.6 km quoted in places is short, and the segment times add up to 8–9.5 h of walking.

Conditions

Water: The best-watered start on this site: stream pools in the Orlias canyon, a spring outside Koromilia, and the unreliable Kanalakia side-spring at about 1,320 m. Water and drinks are sold at Petrostrouga, and then there is nothing at all up to Apostolidis, where the tap water is not potable and bottled water is sold.
Exposure: None in the canyon or the forest — this is a shaded walking path for two thirds of its length. Above Skourta it is open alpine ridge with no shelter, and Laimos is a wide path along a narrow crest with big drops both sides: airy rather than technical in summer, dangerous in wind, fog or snow.
Season: The canyon and the forest to Petrostrouga are walkable for most of the year; the full line to Apostolidis is June to October. The refuge seasons narrow it further — Koromilia is a June-to-September proposition outside weekends.
Crowding: Day visitors at the waterfalls, then very few people as far as Petrostrouga, where you join the traffic of the Gortsia route for the alpine half.

Waypoints

Waypoint	Elevation	Cumulative
Agios Konstantinos chapel (Orlias)Άγιος Κωνσταντίνος / Ορλιάς	310 m	0 km
Orlias waterfallsΚαταρράκτες Ορλιά	350 m	0.1 km
Koromilia refugeΚαταφύγιο Κορομηλιάς	1,020 m	4.1 km
Petrostrouga refugeΚαταφύγιο Πετρόστρουγκα	1,940 m	8.9 km
Skourta peakΣκούρτα	2,476 m	11.8 km
Laimos ridgeΛαιμός	2,500 m	12.6 km
Giosos PassΠέρασμα Γιώσου	2,568 m	13.3 km
Giosos Apostolidis refugeΚαταφύγιο Γιόσος Αποστολίδης	2,697 m	14.7 km