Baatara Gorge Waterfall

At Baatara a stream fed by snowmelt drops into a sinkhole and falls around two hundred and fifty metres past three natural limestone bridges stacked one above another, disappearing into a cave system at the bottom. The geology is genuinely unusual and the three bridges can be walked out onto. The critical thing is timing: the fall runs on snowmelt, which means March to May, and outside that window there is a spectacular hole in the ground with no water in it.

What you actually see

• The three bridges - stacked natural rock arches across the shaft.
• The fall - water dropping around 250 metres past all three bridges.
• The sinkhole - the shaft the water disappears into at the bottom.
• The viewing paths - routes out onto the bridges and down the side of the shaft.

When to go

March to May is the only reliable window, and April is usually the peak. By June the flow is much reduced and by late summer it is dry. Snow can block the access road until March.

Honest expectations

Visitors arriving in summer regularly find no waterfall at all, which is the single most common complaint about the site. The paths are steep, wet and slippery with drops beside them. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

The Tannourine cedar reserve is nearby, and Douma is west.