River Trekking in the Limaro Canyon

In the Limarò Canyon

The Limarò Gorge is the second longest in Europe, after the Verdon Gorge in France. During this hike, we will walk along the base of the cliffs carved out by the River Sarca, which at times rise as high as 600 metres above the river. One moment that will leave us speechless is when it seems as though the walls above us are touching. At that point, in fact, the base of the gorge is much wider than it is 200 metres further up. During the hike, we’ll wade across the river about ten times; the difficulty of the crossings varies from year to year depending on the riverbed conditions.

The meeting point is the village of Sarche, from where you drive up to Limarò and park there. A steep path through the woods leads down into the canyon. In the first section, you walk amongst boulders and rarely enter the water; after 30 minutes, you reach the first ford, one of the longest. Shortly after a natural terrace, you can see a natural arch just above the water’s surface.
You continue along the path and, after two more fords, reach the point where the canyon walls seem to touch. From here, the route is easier but the fords are more frequent. You walk alongside the canyon walls, where challenging climbing routes ascend, until you reach the final section, where a very long but not difficult diagonal ford leads you to the exit of the canyon.