Walks in the Maiella, Abruzzo: Part 2
The immutable fact of tourism these days is that the easier a place is to reach, the more tourists you will find when you get there. We saw only one other couple as we waded along the river and scrambled over rocks for 30 minutes to get to the Cascata di Cusano so that's perhaps a big hint that it’s not exactly a walk in the park to reach this waterfall.
In fact there are no signs telling you where to park, the path down to the river is unmarked, it’s not immediately obvious whether you turn right or left when you reach the river and it’s difficult to know exactly how far you have to wade through the water. The hidden Abbateggio waterfall really is quite well hidden and is situated at the foot of the Maiella massif in Abruzzo which doesn’t attract many tourists even in summer so all of the above explains why the reward for a little bit of effort is that you won’t find the irritating selfie-stick people here.
But that's the mission of My Kind of Italy, to introduce you to places that are far from the madding crowd, to borrow a phrase first coined by Thomas Gray in 1750 in his wonderful poem 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'.
The Cascata di Cusano is not exactly Niagara Falls or the Cascata delle Marmore near Terni, but I enjoyed this experience more than Marmore when we went there a year ago because the crowds at Marmore were suffocating and it detracts from the whole experience when there are long lines everywhere. Our tolerance for crowded tourist sites diminishes with each passing year which is why Abruzzo is of such interest to us.
The first thing to realize about the Abbateggio waterfall in the Maiella is that you are going to get very wet. Good footwear is essential because you will be scrambling over rocks and wading through water so this is no place for flip-flops.
In a dry Abruzzo summer the river should not be very deep, knee-high at most, but to access the waterfall area you will need to put your camera and phone etc in your rucksack and hold it over your head for a few yards because the water level there is chest height. Then you can put all your stuff down on the small shingle beach and have a swim in the refreshing clear water around the waterfall itself.
I’m a fit 66 year old but as agility declines with age I’m not sure I’d want to negotiate all the rocks at 70 or older so bear that in mind. But I’m sure children would find this an exciting adventure as long as you don’t end up having to carry them.
The obvious risk here for any age group is that you stumble over a rock and sprain an ankle or worse and then I’m not sure how you get back to your car because it’s certainly not an easily accessible location. This is not a place for accidents so anyone with agility or mobility problems should give it a miss.
How to reach the Abbateggio waterfall in the Maiella:
Abbateggio is just off the main Maiella road SS487 after you've passed through San Valentino in Abruzzo Citeriore. Once through Abbateggio the road bends sharply to the left and then there is a short straight section (opposite the arrow on the map below). After a few yards you will see an olive grove on the right-hand side and perhaps even a couple of cars parked by the side of the road. There is no sign here at all but this is the place to stop and you'll notice that there is a well-worn path down through the olive trees towards the river.
Follow the steep path through the woods down to the river at which point you turn right and follow the river upstream as best you can for 20-30 minutes until you see the water emerging from a gap between the cliffs on the left.
This is where you have to wade through chest-high water for about 10 yards or so until reaching a small bank of shingle with the waterfall directly in front of you.
Having mentioned the Cascata delle Marmore at the top of this page, here is a photograph of these impressive waterfalls near Terni in southern Umbria close to the border with Lazio. But they are best visited out of season because on a late August weekday it was extremely congested with queues everywhere.
