About Cascata del Gorg d’Abiss
Cascata del Gorg d’Abiss was another one of those obscure waterfalls that we didn’t plan on visiting when we set out on our 2013 trip to Italy. It wasn’t until I was trying to figure out the name of the unofficially-named “Cascata di Trento” did I stumble across this waterfall in the literature. Once I realized that it was pretty close to Riva del Garda (where we were going to stay that evening), the decision was made to check it out. And we were quite glad that we did!
This waterfall put us on a neat out-and-back detour that skirted the small but very calm and beautiful Lago di Ledro. It also allowed us to check out the sleepy town of Tiarno di Sotto, which featured an old church with a pretty tall clock tower and was apparently once known for having many mansions at the height of Venetian power and wealth. The short 20-minute round trip walk was actually in the town of Tiaro di Sotto itself.
But regarding the waterfall, it was unusual in that most of its main drop was hidden from view. It was almost as if the waterfall was gushing out of the cave-like alcove it was nestled in. There was also a lighter flowing waterfall that flowed over the lip of the alcove and almost fell on top of the gushing lower waterfall.
The last time we saw something like this (albeit on a larger scale) was at Running Eagle Falls in Glacier National Park, Montana. I suspect that there was probably a sinkhole in the stream above, and a large fraction of the volume of the stream went through the sinkhole then re-emerged as the gushing lower tier. Meanwhile, the remainder of the stream that didn’t go down the sinkhole went over the lip of the alcove containing the hidden waterfall. Since we didn’t actually go to the top of this waterfall (though I’m not sure there was a safe way to do it), we can’t confirm or refute our hypothesis.
The trail to Cascata del Gorg d’Abiss began at a dead-end (see directions below). The trail passed between a pair of properties (one of them seemed to be an art exhibit or something) then entered a serene forest setting. Along the way, the trail passed by an old building (in which we weren’t sure what it was for), then it passed by some kind of a shrine. Finally, the trail narrowed and went alongside a reinforced walkway that was literally alongside the stream (called Massangla) containing the waterfall.
The trail terminated right in front of the falls where we were able to get the view you see pictured at the top of this page. And given the limited real-estate on the trail, I’d imagine if there were multiple parties visiting at the same time, there would probably have to be some way of taking turns to experience the falls. That was certainly the case when a group of elderly Italian locals actually took their time and let us go forward with visiting the falls at the end of the trail. Then, they timed their arrival at the end of the trail to when we had our fill of the attractive falls. So that’s something to consider to ensure you’re getting a relaxing and enjoyable experience here.
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