Avakas gorge is located in the Akamas National Park on the western shore of the peninsula. This gorge is one of the most famous natural attractions in Cyprus. It is one of the most protected places in the country.
Avakas gorge (Canyon Avakas) is 2 kilometers away from the turtle beach of Lara. Near the beach, there is a turn of the road into the mountains. On this road you can drive a car for about a kilometer to the Parking lot. Here the trail to the Avakas gorge begins. It goes deep into the gorge, but at first, it is quite wide. The Avgas river flows along the bottom of the gorge. There is a very rough vegetation.
After one kilometer, the most interesting section of the Avakas gorge begins. This is a very narrow canyon among steep chalk cliffs. The height of the rocks reaches 30 meters, and the width in some places is only 3-5 meters. In some places the upper part of the gorge Avakas even narrower than the lower. In one place, visitors must pass under a huge block that is stuck at the top of the gorge due to the narrow edges.
In some places, the walls of the gorge are covered with moss, as well as the roots of wild Fig trees. Drops of water run down these roots. It makes the atmosphere of the gorge even more mystical. This place is called "weeping rocks". Springs oozing from the walls of the gorge in this place do not dry up even in the hot summer months. Due to the abundance of water, many of the stones here are very slippery, so you need to walk along the bottom of the gorge with great care.
The length of the canyon Avakas, where it runs between narrow cliffs, is about 500 meters. Then the gorge widens again. If you walk another 1 kilometer, you can climb up the canyon and return back along the Upper Trail.
