Alcantara Gorges and the Alcantara River are the most interesting natural monuments in Sicily, Italy, as a lot of tourists say. The gorges are accessible for a stretch when the waters are low, at a depth of between 50 and 200 cm. Long ago during the eruption of one of the small craters Mogo lava flows made the river-bed on the northern slope of the mount Etna. The magma, cooling off, formed prism basaltic high walls and the erosion of the river  transformed it in a canyon. The tourists will have an opportunity to see the river in all its beauty: its numerous shallows, water falls and vertical basalt cliffs of whimsical forms.
The river-bed stone cliffs rise over 50 meters above the narrow tongue of water awkwardly stretching their cumbersome beauty. Black geometric forms seem to confront each other ominously as they surge skywards. The beautiful stone cliffs tower forms pentagonal and hexagonal prisms, irregular shapes which interplay with the light, creating forms both graceful and monstrous.

During the period from May till September the water in the Alcantara river becomes lower. At this time it is possible to bathe there and many tourists use this opportunity to cool down in its pure stream. The most interesting place of the river is called Gole dell’Alcantara. The water is cold though, even in the summer. If you want to walk through part of the actual gorge, you can hire waders (similar to those used by fisherman).

The descent on foot allows a beautiful, overall view of the initial part of the gorge. Once down at the riverbed, the rock-faces are remarkable in their ambiguous beauty, squeezing a narrow strip of water between them: black, geometric structures which rise up, one facing the other. The entrance ticket costs 3Eur. There is a lift for the climb back up. A special elevator was built there to lift tourists to the field of view, which is open from 7 a.m. till 7 p.m. Free-camping is possible in the specially provided clearings.