Gorropu Canyon Hike: 4 Routes, Tickets and What to Expect Inside

Most people come to Sardinia for the sea and only head inland once lying on the beach starts to get boring. Gorropu Canyon (Gola su Gorropu) is a limestone gorge in the Supramonte mountains on the island’s east side, with walls around 500 metres high and, in places, so narrow you could cross it in a few strides. No road goes there and no cable car either. You reach it on foot, or by jeep for part of the way and on foot for the rest.

That is exactly where the planning gets tricky. One route drops four kilometres from a mountain pass, and then you climb the same four kilometres back up, in summer under full sun. Another runs almost flat along the river but is roughly twice as long. A third cuts the walk short with a jeep ride. And once you are inside the canyon, giant white boulders wait for you, and you scramble over them on all fours. For the island as a whole and how to plan the trip, see our Sardinia holiday guide.

What Gorropu Canyon is and why everyone talks about it

Gorropu (Gola di Gorropu in Italian; local spellings also include Gorroppu and Su Gorropu) is a gorge on the boundary between the municipalities of Urzulei and Orgosolo, deep in the Supramonte. It was carved by the Rio Flumineddu, a stream that runs off the slopes of the Gennargentu massif. For most of the year, though, you will not see any water in the canyon: it flows beneath the gravel and through underground karst channels, and only surfaces at the lower entrance, where it forms pools.

The operator’s official website gives the gorge a length of about 1.5 km, a depth of roughly 500 m below the summit of Punta Cucuttos (888 m) and narrowest points just 4 to 5 metres wide. If you read about “five kilometres” somewhere, that figure counts the whole incised valley. The stretch you actually walk between the walls is about a kilometre and a half.

The limestone under your boots was once the seabed, and according to the operator the walls hold fossil shells, sea urchins and snails. The canyon is also home to an endemic columbine, Aquilegia nuragica, one of the most endangered plants in the Mediterranean, which flowers roughly from mid-May to early June.

Gorropu Canyon tickets, opening hours and the ticket office

The canyon is managed by Chìntula, a company from Urzulei that holds the official concession, and everything important is on its website, gorropu.info. The key thing to know is where you pay: the ticket office and information point are not at the car park or the trailhead, but down at the entrance to the gorge itself. The trails that lead there are free; you only pay to go into the canyon.

Ticket prices and times come from the official gorropu.info site (checked 27 September 2026); jeep and parking prices come from blogs and visitor reviews. Older articles quote €5 and €3.50 and entry from 10:30 to 16:00. That is out of date.

4 Gorropu Canyon hiking routes compared

You can reach Gorropu from four directions, and each one is a different day out. Treat the distances and height differences as approximate; sources disagree by a few hundred metres.

Add one to two hours for the canyon itself on top of the route time.

1. From the Genna Silana pass: the classic that only hurts on the way back

The Genna Silana pass (also written Ghenna ‘e Sìlana) sits at 1,017 metres at kilometre 183 of the SS125 between Dorgali and Baunei. It is the most popular starting point and also the most deceptive one: you start by walking downhill and do the uphill part when you are already tired, in the afternoon and often in the sun. Parking is free in front of the former roadman’s house (cantoniera) or in the car park opposite. Right next to it is Bar Silana, and across the road the Gorropu Hotel.

Trail B-505 is waymarked with red and white flashes on rocks and branches, and in places with green arrows. Stay on it: in karst country a detour easily turns into getting lost. The path drops through woods of holm oak, strawberry trees and juniper, past stone shepherds’ huts (pinnettos), with views into the Flumineddu valley. At the bottom you will find pools, a spring with drinking water (look for the Sardinian flag on the right) and the ticket office.

Sardegnaturismo.it says one hour down and twice that back up. Bloggers who walked it themselves report more like an hour and a half to two hours down and around three hours up. We would plan on the slower version and set aside the whole day. If you get to the bottom and realise you cannot face the climb, you do not have to do it: from the ticket office you can walk about 50 minutes (roughly 2 km) to the operator’s jeeps and get a lift to Campo Base for €18 per person (about £15). From there a shuttle takes only the driver back up to fetch the car at Genna Silana. You arrange the lift at the ticket office.

Genna Silana is also the start of a different, panoramic option: a section of the long-distance Sentiero Italia (stage 016c) up to Punta Cucuttos, the summit above the canyon at around 890 metres, where you look down into the gorge from above. It is a good plan for days when the canyon floor is wet.

2. From Campo Base Gorropu: the easy Gorropu Canyon hike, partly by jeep

Campo Base Gorropu is the canyon operator’s base camp on the SS125 at kilometre 190.5, on the Su Cungiadeddu spur at 830 metres. It is a 5-minute drive from Genna Silana, 10 minutes from Dorgali and 20 minutes from Urzulei and Cala Gonone. You will find an information point, tour desk, gear hire, a bar and a picnic area.

From here a jeep takes you about 20 minutes down a dirt track to the Su Monte Orrùbiu sheepfold by the river, and then you walk about 2 km on an easy path along the Flumineddu, which takes around 45 minutes. You come back the same way to the jeep. The operator describes this option as being “for those who cannot or do not want to walk much”. There is no official jeep price list on the website (the prices in the table come from blogs), so check by phone or at the base camp. We would not take a hire car down the dirt track to the sheepfold.

3. From the Sa Barva bridge: the longest, flattest and, for us, the most beautiful

This is the route we chose after a long time weighing up the options, and it was absolutely great. It starts on the north side, in the municipality of Dorgali, at the Sa Barva bridge over the Flumineddu (S’Abba Arva in Sardinian, “white water”). From Dorgali it is about 12 km by car through the Oddoene valley, between Cannonau vineyards. There is a large car park by the bridge, paid in season, and a snack bar. Do not expect any other facilities along the way.

The trail is marked with small red and white rectangles on the rocks. After a few hundred metres you climb to a wooden gate, and from then on you simply follow the riverbed with no turn-offs, through scrub that smells of rosemary and curry plant. The dorgali.org website allows two and a quarter hours to the gorge; Strictly Sardinia allows 4 to 5 hours there and back (about 14 km in total). Including time in the canyon, plan on more like 6 to 7 hours.

We like it best because there is no big climb at the end and it passes pools you can swim in. The water is cold even in August, and after four hours of walking that is exactly what you want.

4. Sedda ar Baccas and trail B-502: for experienced hikers

The fourth approach comes from the opposite side, from Urzulei, along the expert hiking trail Sedda ar Baccas to Gorropu (B-502). It is around 12 kilometres long, gains about 200 metres and brings you to the southern (upper) entrance of the gorge, where the river flows in. You need proper gear and ideally a guide, because the upper end of the canyon is part of the hardest, red section. The longest option of all is a full-day traverse of the entire canyon (around 8 hours), only with a guide and only for fit hikers. The operator sells it as the “Integrale” trek.

How to get to Gorropu Canyon

Without a car, getting to Gorropu is awkward. Most visitors fly into Olbia or Cagliari, where summer flights arrive from the UK and many other European airports (check current routes from your nearest airport), and pick up a hire car there. The nearest towns are Dorgali, Urzulei and Cala Gonone on the coast. Approximate driving distances according to Strictly Sardinia:

• Olbia to Dorgali: 103 km, about an hour and a half on the SS131, turning off towards Dorgali and continuing on the SS129.
• Olbia to Urzulei (towards Genna Silana): 136 km, about 2 hours, continuing from Dorgali on the SS125.
• Cagliari to Urzulei: 164 km, about 2.5 hours on the SS554 and SS125 via Tortolì.
• Cagliari to Dorgali: 221 km, about 2 hours 45 minutes on the SS131 and SS129.

To the Sa Barva bridge from Dorgali, follow the road signs, not your satnav: from the SS125 take the Viale J. F. Kennedy bypass, after about a kilometre turn right at the roundabout onto Via Bachelet, then left onto the road into the Oddoene valley and keep following the signs for “Gorroppu” and “Tiscali”. From Cala Gonone, turn left straight after the tunnel towards Baunei, after about a kilometre turn right and then left onto the Via per Oddoene. Google Maps may send you on the “shortest” route from the SS125 down a dirt track that is no place for a hire car, so if in doubt, drive via Dorgali.

Genna Silana and Campo Base are both on the SS125, which is narrow and winding, so expect to drive more slowly than the map suggests. ARST bus no. 303 used to cross the pass once a day early in the morning from Arbatax, Tortolì, Baunei and Santa Maria Navarrese, returning in the early afternoon (information from January 2024). We would not build a hike around such a tight connection. Without a car it is simpler to book a guided trip that includes hotel pick-up.

Inside Gorropu Canyon: green, yellow, red

From the ticket office the route runs about a kilometre and a half into the gorge, split into three sections marked with coloured dots. The deeper you go, the harder it gets.

• The green section covers roughly the first 500 metres. It is marked with arrows, runs over gravel and sand between giant boulders, and almost any healthy person can manage it. Even here you get the most impressive part: walls towering overhead and a thin strip of sky.
• The yellow section has no trodden path. You make your way over big white boulders, often using your hands, sometimes squeezing between them. The limestone is polished by water and coated with a pale film, so it is slippery even when dry. You need agility and a sure foot, but no climbing skills.
• The red section is for experienced hikers. It is continuous scrambling over huge smooth blocks, and according to several sources in places with a rope and abseiling gear. If you are not confident climbing on all fours, turn back before the first red dot.

Most people turn round in the green section or at the start of the yellow one, and they are right to. We would allow an hour to an hour and a half for the canyon itself: as long as it is fun, keep going; as soon as you start worrying about your ankles, head back. The deeper part of the canyon is not waymarked, and it is possible to get lost in a narrow gorge.

Gorropu Canyon with a guide or on your own?

You can do routes 1 to 3 on your own if you are used to walking in the mountains. The waymarking is good and you will meet other people on the trails. Where a guide does make sense:

• Trail B-502 and the full canyon traverse. Here a guide is a necessity, not a luxury.
• If you do not have a car. Organised trips usually include pick-up from hotels in Dorgali, Orosei or Cala Gonone. According to Strictly Sardinia they start at around €50 (about £43) per person including transport.
• When the weather is uncertain. The operator explicitly asks you to contact Chìntula before setting off if the forecast is bad (phone numbers are on gorropu.info).

Chìntula itself offers three types of trip: “Più facile” (easiest) from Campo Base with a jeep, “Panoramica” from Genna Silana with a jeep ride back, and “Integrale” for the physically fit. Hotels in the area also arrange guides.

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Best time to visit Gorropu Canyon: season, heat and floods

Outside the season, which runs from mid-March to mid-November, the operator advises against visiting: in bad weather rocks fall, the days are short and services (jeeps, ticket office, help) run on a reduced basis or not at all.

Within the season there is a simple rule: spring and autumn yes, July and August only early in the morning. The canyon itself is shady and cool; the problem is getting there. The slope below Genna Silana has stretches with no shade at all, and Claudia Tavani of Strictly Sardinia, a Sardinian herself, describes the climb as “definitely too hot” as early as June. She rates April, when everything is in flower, as the best month. We would go in April, May, or at the end of September and in October. In October, though, it gets dark early, and you have to be out of the canyon by 17:00 and then still walk back to the car.

Floods here are not just a theoretical risk. After heavy rain, mainly in autumn and winter, the dry riverbed fills with water. In the November 2013 flood the swollen Flumineddu shifted boulders and changed the shape of the bed at the mouth of the gorge. After a downpour or a storm, stay out of the canyon for a day or two afterwards, keep an eye on civil protection warnings (allerta meteo) and, if in doubt, call the operator.

What to wear and pack for the Gorropu hike

Gorropu is not a stroll in flip-flops, even though in August you will meet people trying it.

• Sturdy hiking boots with a good sole, ideally ankle-high. Strictly Sardinia specifically advises against trail running shoes. No sandals or trainers: on smooth limestone you will be skating.
• At least 1.5 litres of water per person, more in summer. There is no source along the way; the only drinking-water spring is down by the ticket office.
• Food for the whole day. According to one blogger, the Gorropu Hotel at Genna Silana will make you a packed lunch if you order it the evening before.
• Folding trekking poles that you can strap to your rucksack. They help on the descent and the climb from Genna Silana; in the canyon you need your hands free.
• An extra layer. The canyon floor is noticeably cooler than the top, especially in spring and autumn.
• Swimwear and water shoes if you are walking from Sa Barva or want a dip in the pools by the entrance.
• An offline map on your phone; you cannot rely on mobile signal in the mountains.

Gorropu Canyon with kids

It can be done, but think it through. With younger children we would choose the Campo Base approach with the jeep, where you only walk about 45 minutes on the flat, or the Sa Barva route if they are used to long walks. The climb back to Genna Silana is hard work for small legs and the only way to shorten it is the jeep. Inside the canyon we would stay in the green section with children, or at the very start of the yellow one, where they can scramble over boulders under supervision. For most kids that is the best bit anyway.

Gorropu and Tiscali in one day?

Tiscali is a Nuragic village hidden in a sinkhole at the top of a mountain in the Supramonte. From the Sa Barva bridge you reach it by following the Flumineddu to the steep Surtana steps and then climbing on; alternatively you can walk to Tiscali from the Lanaittu valley (on the Oliena side) in about an hour and a half along an old charcoal burners’ path. Entry to the site is paid; check the current price and opening hours locally.

We would not combine them. Gorropu from Sa Barva is a full day of 6 to 7 hours on its own, and Tiscali is another demanding uphill hike. It makes more sense to us to stay in Dorgali or Cala Gonone and do each place on a different day, Tiscali perhaps from Lanaittu.

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A little history and legend

The limestone the canyon is cut into formed on the seabed between 190 and 60 million years ago. The gorge itself is much younger. It began as a tectonic fault, which the Flumineddu then bit into: water from the northern slopes of the Gennargentu ground, polished and dissolved the rock until it had carved a cleft more than 500 metres deep. Do not look for anything romantic behind the name: in the local dialect “gorropu” simply means a precipice or a hollowed-out place.

The work is not finished. In November 2013 Cyclone Cleopatra swept across Sardinia, killing more than fifteen people, mainly around Olbia, and the swollen rivers of the Supramonte showed exactly why you stay out of the canyon after rain (more on this in the section on floods above).

People were here long before the hikers. According to the canyon operator, Gorropu had a defensive role in the Bronze Age: the lower entrance was guarded by the Sa Domu de s’Orcu nuraghe, the upper part by the Presetu Tortu nuraghe and, above that, the even larger Mereu nuraghe. The same Nuragic culture built the village of Tiscali a little further on.

A place this dark comes with its legends. Oral tradition tells of Sa Mama de Gorropu, “the mother of Gorropu”, a terrifying creature that lives inside the canyon. On stormy nights the evil sos Drullios are said to crawl out of it and carry off people, animals and shepherds’ huts. Sa Tentassione, the devil, lives here too, and people supposedly came to sell him their souls in exchange for earthly riches. According to the stories, it ended well for none of them. The version in which the devil walks through the canyon at exactly midday turns up mostly on travel websites; we did not find it in any official source.

A few things are documented, though. According to the operator, the wind in the canyon can get so strong that it hurls a whole flock of birds against the rock face. The acoustics are such that in some spots you can supposedly hear a whisper 200 metres away. And the columbine Aquilegia nuragica grows nowhere else in the world, only as a handful of plants right here. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists it among the 50 most endangered plants in the Mediterranean, so if you see it in May, take as many photos as you like, but never pick it.

Where to stay near Gorropu Canyon

If you want to be there when it opens at ten, you do not want a two-hour morning drive from Olbia. Three places make sense:

Dorgali is the most practical base. It is 10 minutes from Campo Base and the closest town to the Sa Barva bridge, it has shops and restaurants, and it sits among Cannonau vineyards. For trips inland, meaning Gorropu, Tiscali and the Lanaittu valley, it is our top pick. Places to stay in Dorgali.

• Agriturismo Conca’ e Janas (Dorgali): a farm stay right on the SS125, the road you take to both Campo Base and Genna Silana, so you do not have to drive through town in the morning. It has a restaurant serving local food, a garden and private parking, and scores 9.0 from 108 reviews on Booking.com. A good choice if you want to have dinner where you sleep.
• Ghivine Albergo Diffuso (Dorgali): an albergo diffuso, meaning a hotel with rooms spread across several houses in the centre, on Via Roma. You have bars and shops around you, breakfast includes gluten-free options, and it scores 9.1 from more than 800 reviews. Best if you want an evening stroll around town and an early start for the Sa Barva bridge.
• Hotel Villa Cedrino (Dorgali): a three-star hotel by Lake Cedrino with a garden, outdoor pool, restaurant and free parking, rated 9.4. It lies beyond Dorgali towards the lake, so it is a bit further from the trailheads, but after a full day’s trek there is somewhere to jump into the water.

Cala Gonone is a seaside village below Dorgali, separated from it by a tunnel. Campo Base is 20 minutes away, you spend the evening by the sea, and in the morning you can take a boat into the Gulf of Orosei. If you are combining Gorropu with beach time, this is where you will be happiest. We cover it in detail in our guide to Cala Gonone. Places to stay in Cala Gonone.

• Guest House Dolce Vita (Cala Gonone): a small guest house on the Lungomare Palmasera seafront, 200 metres from Spiaggia Centrale beach, with a bar and balconies overlooking the sea. Rated 8.8. A simpler option for people who will be up in the mountains all day anyway.
• Hotel Resort Nuraghe Arvu (Cala Gonone): a resort below a rocky hill about 500 metres from the beach, where rooms have their own entrance from the garden. There is an outdoor pool in the grounds, a children’s playground and free parking. Rated 8.4, it suits families best.
• Margaida Boutique Hotel & SPA (Cala Gonone): a four-star hotel 200 metres from Spiaggia Centrale, with a seasonal pool, a bar and some rooms with a sea-view balcony. Rated 9.0. This is more of an end-of-week treat than a night before a trek.

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Urzulei is a mountain village on the southern side, home of the canyon operator and the starting point for trail B-502. Expect peace and quiet, mountain air and a few small guest houses and B&Bs. Campo Base is 20 minutes away. Places to stay in Urzulei.

• B&B Su Biancu (Urzulei): a B&B on Via San Basilio with a terrace overlooking the mountains, air conditioning and private parking. Breakfast can be vegetarian or vegan. Rated 9.6 from almost 250 reviews, a decent number for a village with only a few guest houses.
• Sa domu ‘eccia (Urzulei): a whole small holiday home in a 17th-century building on Via Roma, with one bedroom, a fully equipped kitchen and a garden. Rated 9.7 from 45 reviews. For a couple who want to cook for themselves and have some peace.

And then there is the option for anyone who wants to be first on the trail: the Gorropu Hotel on the Genna Silana pass, across the road from the trailhead. In the morning you cross the road and start walking. Rooms look out over the Supramonte, breakfast is a buffet, the restaurant serves Sardinian food and parking is free; on Booking.com the hotel scores 8.5 from more than 300 reviews. In the evening, though, there is only the mountain and the bar, no village.

Gorropu Canyon FAQ

Where to next

• Sardinia holiday guide: how to get to the island, whether to hire a car, what it costs and which part of the island to choose.
• Cala Gonone: the best seaside base for Gorropu, Tiscali and boat trips around the gulf.
• Gulf of Orosei: the coves of Cala Luna, Cala Mariolu and Cala Goloritzé, boat trips and clifftop hikes right below the Supramonte.
• What to see in Sardinia: places across the whole island, for when Gorropu is not your only goal.
• Sardinia weather: temperatures and rainfall month by month, so you know when hiking is pleasant.
• Sardinia: what to watch out for: wildfires, roads, animals on the road and other things worth knowing before a trip into the mountains.