The best canyoning trails in Calabria

Are you exhausted or bored? Maybe you just need to go canyoning in Calabria. An incredible adventure that will give you hours of fun in direct contact with wild, unspoilt nature.

Want to know more? Canyoning is an outdoor sporting activity that takes place in small groups and consists of descending rivers, streams and waterfalls on foot, alternating stretches in which you walk out of the water or slide over rocks, with others in which you remain immersed in the water. It is not dangerous and there are routes suitable for all ages, as long as you have the right equipment and - of course - rely on expert guides.

Calabria, with its centuries-old watercourses flowing through the mountains and its spectacular gorges carved by torrents, offers waterfalls, jumps and natural pools that are the perfect setting to experience this adventure while enjoying breathtaking landscapes.

Ready to harness up? Here are the best canyoning routes for an experience you won't forget.

It is truly a unique emotion to enter the most impervious and unexplored areas of the Pollino National Park and cross its canyons carved and smoothed by the erosive action of water.

You will be able to choose between routes suitable for beginners and the more technical ones, which also involve the use of ropes to abseil down the vertical sections of the canyons. In any case, it will be a wonderful experience to join the group and walk along the river, crossing the gorges carved into the rock, under the careful guidance of professionals who will know how to make this adventure unique. 

There are various associations that offer easy and fun routes or more complex and challenging ones. Life jackets, helmet, neoprene wetsuit, splash jacket, harness with carabiners are provided directly by the organisers. Bring a swimming costume, a thermal or technical fabric jersey to wear under your wetsuit, hiking shoes and spare dry clothes. The routes have an approximate length of 2.5 km and a total duration of about three hours, but much depends on the pace and training level of the group.

Canyoning in the Pollino National Park can be practised in Papasidero in the Castiglione torrent, an extraordinary natural environment with slides, waterfalls and a 33-metre waterfall. Also in the Pollino National Park, you can choose to experience group canyoning starting from Laino Borgo and crossing the Iannello torrent, a tributary of the Lao River. Again, you will be provided with the necessary technical equipment to safely tackle the route. Crystal-clear pools of water, rushing waterfalls and a breathtakingly beautiful landscape await you. Fun is guaranteed as you slide over rocks or plunge into the cool water of the torrent.

If you love wild, unspoilt nature, then the mountains of the Aspromonte National Park will win you over.

An ideal itinerary could start with a walk through the mountain villages, to discover an authentic Calabria, rich in traditions and culture. You will visit small villages that are now almost uninhabited, but full of charm and mystery. At this point, a high-adrenaline adventure awaits you: canyoning, which you can enjoy in these parts along the Furria torrent. It is a truly incredible route for the panorama and the uncontaminated air. 

The valley where the torrent flows is not far from Roghudi (RC), one of the so-called ‘’ghost towns‘’ where time seems to have stopped. One can penetrate the Mediterranean maquis and reach the torrent's gorge to admire three truly spectacular waterfalls. Canyoning along the Furria Torrent is advisable in the summer, but if the temperature and weather permit, it can be practised from April to November, obviously well equipped and with a wetsuit.

There are three jumps from which you can dive, but the water level changes according to the season, so it is always advisable to be accompanied by expert guides. It will be like entering the heart of this majestic mountain, through crevices and canyons immersed in a timeless atmosphere. At the centre of the gorges, you can stop above the vertical and opt for two different descents: the first, truly spectacular, is a large cavity carved out by natural erosion and can be visited inside, until the exit from the gorge at the confluence of the Mangusa canyon, under a jet of water coming down from above.