As the weather begins to cool down and lead us into Fall, one of our favorite pastimes (even more emphasized due to COVID-19) is hiking! Last week, we took a morning to find the trailheads of Nilufer county’s Mysia Yollari. Mysia was an ancient geographic region, here in the northwest of Turkey, and these trails were thought to be early travel routes. There is little documented history about the Mysians, though a mention from Homer dates them back to at least the early 100s B.C. Nevertheless, their choice of land-travel was ideal – traversing meandering streams, low wandering mountains, and lush valleys inside of modern-day Bursa. The main trail extends from Misi Koyu (Misi village) and ends in Golyazi (the peninsula village on Uluabat lake). Various trails finger off from that main line and we ventured out to find one of the smaller ones. Passing through sunflower fields in Gungor Koyu, we linked up to trails, some marked with color-coded signs and painted landmarks. Sadly, with this writer’s three young kids in tow, we couldn’t hike very long before the thunderous rumble of little tummies and tired legs required we return to the car. Despite that, thanks to newly paved roads in the region, we were able to drive a good portion of the trail as it weaved on and off the roadway and the surrounding area.

---

---

Thanks to the excellent efforts of a few seasoned trekkers and the local municipality, several resources are available to visitors wanting to discover the trails for themselves.