British author, pioneer of Lycian Way hiking trail in southwestern Türkiye, blazing new paths

MUGLA, Türkiye 

The pioneering British author who discovered and trailblazed the historical Lycian Way hiking trail in the southwestern Turkish province of Mugla is now living her life in a calm village and working to find new routes to enrich tourism in the Aegean province.

The Lycian Way was conceived in 1989 by Kate Clow, and with the sponsorship of a private bank, early road markings and direction signs were installed. Clow published a groundbreaking guidebook describing the route.

The entire historical Lycian Way was discovered in 1999, which bolstered the profile of Mugla and the hiking trail.

Clow, 77, settled three years ago in a neighborhood in the eastern municipality of Seydikemer in Mugla, home to the ancient city of Sidyma.

She is still working to promote the Lycian Way trail and identify new routes that are known to locals but are not yet recorded on maps.

Clow told Anadolu that she works with groups for the protection and promotion of Türkiye’s hiking routes and historical monuments.

Bored with city life, Clow said she moved to a small village house in Dodurga in Seydikemer, “a Lycian settlement dating back to ancient times, marked with Roman tombs” and tombs of kings adorned with various paintings, among the graves of others. The city existed until the Byzantine era, she said.

Clow said that some six Roman roads converge in Dodurga, which she is on the way to fully discovering. She said she and her associates discovered a hiking trail from Dodurga to the ancient city of Xanthos, and the new route is open to the public.

As for renovation of the Lycian Way, Clow said these efforts will continue in the future with sponsors.

The hiking trail is easier to walk in early spring and it offers accommodation and camping areas, as well as traditional food, she said.

Clow stated that the Lycian Way was only 509 kilometers (316 miles) long when it was first discovered but that now, with the new routes, it spans a full 760 kilometers (472 miles).

She added that about 30,000 people, mostly foreign tourists, walk the Lycian Way every year.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul