sicilian canyon alcantara

the canyon

The Alcantara river stems from the Nebrodi mountains in the Messina province and ends close to Taormina. It is special due to the canyons (or gorges) inside which it flows. The most famous and beautiful of these canyons is in the territory of Motta Camastra, close to the town of Castiglione, in the north side of the Etna mountain.

These canyon is up to 30 meters high and between 2 and 5 meters wide. For a big part it can be walked, since the water is usually shallow, even though it flows at high speed. The canyon was not created by the river, but it is the result of ancient Lava flows from the northern side of Etna. The Lava, meeting a cold object at this point (not the river, but something else) split in two parts and cooled down very fast, creating beautiful formations on the walls of the camion. After this event, the river started flowing on the Lava stone. 

Now Alcantara valley hosts a natural park where it is possible to bath in the cold water of the river, have BBQ and Picnics, do special activities like canyon trekking and body rafting.