Mount Oiti National Park

Oiti rises to 2,152 metres at Pyrgos and was declared a national park in 1966, protecting one of the richest floras in Greece: over a thousand plant species grow here, including local endemics such as Veronica oetaea, which survives only in seasonal pools on the Livadies plateau. That plateau, a wide grassy basin at around 1,800 metres surrounded by fir, is the mountain's signature landscape and fills with flowers in June. Trails climb from the spa village of Ypati and from Pavliani through dense Greek fir, passing the Trapeza refuge and waterfalls in the gorges below. The mountain is a National Park with EU protection status, and shepherds still bring flocks to the high meadows in summer.

What you actually see

• The Livadies plateau - high grassland at 1,800 metres ringed by fir.
• The flora - over a thousand species, including plants found nowhere else.
• The fir forest - dense Greek fir on the slopes below the treeline.
• Pyrgos summit - the 2,152-metre high point and its long views.

When to go

June and early July for the flowering plateau, the reason botanists come; September and October for stable hiking weather. Snow lies into May and returns by November.

Honest expectations

Trails are marked unevenly and the plateau can be confusing in mist. There is no visitor centre; the refuge opens irregularly. Access roads to the trailheads are rough in places, and there is no water on the high ground.

Nearby

Ypati's thermal spa lies at the foot of the mountain; Lamia and the Sperchios valley are north.