Cascade de Courmes

Cascade de Courmes was the waterfall attraction we sought out in the Gorge du Loup. Like the nearby Saut du Loup, this waterfall also resided in the Alpes-Maritimes department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region (though it was technically in Cote d’Azur also known as the French Riviera).

It was an impressively colorful and tall free-falling waterfall that was scattering in the wind during our afternoon visit. Yet it was hard to believe that this attractive waterfall was so easy to miss because the mini-cove it sat in was otherwise concealed if all we did was focus on the narrow D6 road. It certainly helped our cause that our pre-trip research allowed us to put a pre-trip waypoint on our GPS so we could anticipate when we should slow down and start looking for it.

We happened to notice the falls just before entering a road tunnel while driving the Route des Gorges du Loup northbound. At first, we couldn’t find a convenient spot to pull over to get out of the car given that there didn’t seem to be pullouts in the immediate area.

However, what we ended up doing was we went past the waterfall, and then while looking for a place to turn around on this narrow road, we noticed the car park for the Saut du Loup. That was probably about as good as any place to make the turnaround after visiting that other waterfall attraction.

Once we returned to Cascade de Courmes, we continued going a short distance south on the narrow D6 road until we saw a somewhat sizable pullout area just before the next tunnel. From there, we got out of the car and walked along the D6 road back towards the waterfall.

While I personally wouldn’t recommend spending lots of time walking on the road being shared with cars (and risk becoming roadkill), we really didn’t have a choice as there was no lane or shoulder dedicated for walking. And given how narrow the D6 road was, we found that we were essentially part of the traffic much like people on bicycles sharing the mountain roads.

Once we were at the waterfall, we realized that we pretty much needed a wide angle lens to get the whole waterfall in one shot. There was also a trail that ascended from the road and appeared to go behind the waterfall for additional photo ops, but unfortunately that trail was closed during our visit. I can only speculate that it was probably due to erosion or the danger of a rock fall.

Anyways, the color of the algal walls behind the falls juxtaposed with the blue skies was perfect for photography. In a way, it kind of reminded me of the character and shape of Lower Calf Creek Falls in Utah.