40.19° N · 9.53° E · Gulf of Orosei
One of the deepest canyons in Europe, on the border between Urzulei and Orgosolo, near Dorgali. You arrive on foot along the Flumineddu valley, pay €6 at the entrance hut and go in between white limestone boulders as far as your legs allow: there are easy, scenic and expert stretches.
Part of Gulf of Orosei
Step by step
There are two ways to get there on foot: going up the Flumineddu valley from the Sa Barva bridge, or coming down from the Genna Silana pass, on the SS125 road. The Genna Silana route is shorter on the way in, but the return is all uphill.
You pay in cash at the information and ticket point at the canyon entrance. Access is from 10:00 to 15:30.
Between narrowing walls, the routes range from easy to expert, with or without a guide. Choose according to your level: the boulders on the bottom require scrambling.
By the same path, or by the 4x4 transfer to the car park, which is booked at the hut during opening hours.
The entrance to the canyon is at the end of a walk along the Flumineddu river valley, which is usually dry in summer. What you pay for is access to the inside of the gorge, where the path becomes a passage between giant rocks.
The water that runs down the northern slopes of the Gennargentu gathers in the Flumineddu river, which crosses the Supramonte. Over millennia it has eroded and dissolved the limestone, opening a gorge about a kilometre and a half long and some 500 metres deep, which in places on the bottom narrows to 4 or 5 metres. The walls hold fossils, and in the cracks grows a plant that lives only here, Aquilegia nuragica, the Gorropu columbine. Around the canyon there are numerous nuraghi, the stone towers of prehistoric Sardinia.
What is impressive is that nothing is artificial: no road, dam, bridge or cable car crosses or skirts the canyon. You can only get there on foot. It is run by the Chìntula cooperative, the official concessionaire, which charges the entry and offers guides and transfers.
Anyone used to mountain walking: between the approach and the visit it is five or six hours, and the return includes an ascent. Children aged 6 to 17 pay the reduced fee and, if they walk well, enjoy the giant boulders of the easy stretch.
It is not for those unused to walking nor for a day of strong heat without water. The expert sections require scrambling among boulders: if you have no experience, do them with a guide or stay on the easy ones.
By Genna Silana. The cooperative's Base Camp is on the SS125 road, at kilometre 190.5, the pass between Dorgali and Urzulei. From there the path goes down towards the canyon. It is the most direct option if you come from the Cala Gonone coast or from the south, but remember the whole return is uphill.
By Sa Barva. From the Dorgali area you drive to the Sa Barva bridge, over the Flumineddu, and from there walk up the valley. It is a longer approach.
For either, a car is essential: there is no public transport to the starting points.
The canyon opens every day. April, May, June, September and October are the ideal months: good temperatures and long days. In July and August, the approach in the sun gets tough; start very early and reach the entrance as soon as it opens, at 10:00. In winter you can go, but after heavy rain the river rises and the passage may close.
Because you have to leave the canyon before 16:00, work out your start time counting the approach: there is no point reaching the hut at three.
€6 per adult and €4 for ages 6 to 17, in cash, at the entrance hut. It cannot be booked. Guided excursions, night outings and the 4x4 return transfer are paid separately and arranged with the cooperative.
In heavy rain or after storms, do not go: the bottom of the canyon is the riverbed. Swap the day for the coast of the Gulf of Orosei or for Dorgali, and leave Gorropu for when the water has passed.
Who it's for
What to bring
More to do
Tips
You have to enter before 15:30 and leave before 16:00.
The river can rise and close the passage.
Book the 4x4 for the return and you save yourself the climb.
Genna Silana if you want the shortest approach and do not mind climbing at the end; Sa Barva if you prefer to walk up the river valley.
Ask about the state of the sections that day and decide there whether to hire a guide.
Questions
€6 adults and €4 for ages 6 to 17, in cash and at the entrance.
You cannot: tickets are bought there.
The approach is a mountain walk of a couple of hours. Inside there are easy, scenic and expert routes.
With children used to walking, yes, as far as the easy stretch. From age 6 they pay a reduced entry.
About 500 metres, over a stretch of around a kilometre and a half.
Yes. The cooperative that runs the canyon organises guided excursions, including at night.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/sardinia/gulf-of-orosei/things-to-do/gola-di-gorropu
