Moving back to the birthplace of Olympic Games, Ancient Olympia in Hleia, you will meet the plateau of Foloi on Mt. Erymanthos. Characterized as one of the most beautiful forests of Peloponnese, Foloi is considered the oldest European self-planted beech and oak forest and the biggest of the Balkans. It spreads for almost 33.000 sq.m., on Mt Foloi, at 688m altiitude, while the rivers Ladon and Erymanthos create a unique and enchanting environment. The mysterious beauty of Foloi Oak forest inspired Ancient Greeks to believe that the forest had been inhabited by Centaurs and Fairies. So, they named the forest after the head of the Centaurs, namely Folos, who used to be a friend of Hercules. The fairies of the forest were the oak fairies known as Dryards.

Foloi oak forest is protected from the European Network of Natura 2000.

In the forest you can easily hike or bike among a numerous different paths. Most of the roads in the forests can also be accessed by car.

The best hiking path begins from the Foloi Museum and heads up to the forestry road towards the gorge of Erymanthos, always being beside small bridges, watermills and small caves.

One very well hidden secret of Erymanthos is its waterfalls. The path is difficult to follow because the vegetation is very rich, so they create a wild scenery with intense waters that fall from ten or twenty meters high. In the villlage Nemouta, beside the gorge of Erymanthos the visitor can admire eight different waterfalls of different heights.

GPS coordinates: N 37.701666, E 21.791316