Impressive, sunny canyon with wonderful green shining water in fantastic rock. Breathtaking, exposed abseils and tricky jumps provide challenging action.

The Valle di Giumaglio is one of the most beautiful and impressive that the Maggia Valley has to offer in canyoning.

To get started, a steep, old paved path leads for an hour through an idyllic Ticino chestnut forest. A unique stone labyrinth of huge gneiss blocks characterises the beginning of the canyon – running and climbing are the order of the day here. Then it goes between the high, washed-out rock walls with their beautiful white grain. Most of the time the gorge is open and then again narrow and mysterious. In between, like green eyes, crystal-clear pools lie in deep rock basins.

The long, narrow swimming passages – once even through a short rock tunnel – are just as impressive as the jumps up to 13 meters high. The abseiling points are unparalleled: Hanging freely above a glowing water eye, in the middle of a high water cascade or breathtakingly exposed and high. The Giumaglio shows itself from different sides and offers a crazy finale at the end: The abseiling point at the 40-meter-high waterfall offers a fantastic view of the opening valley and the picturesque village of Giumaglio with its traditional stone houses.

The Giumaglio Gorge offers (almost) everything canyoning has to offer, but requires initial canyoning experience or knowledge of active abseiling as well as a good level of fitness.
Gorge: Valle di Giumaglio
Where: Near Giumaglio in the Maggia Valley, near Locarno
Activities: Canyoning
Difficulty: +++