Sotire Waterfall

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Sotirë Waterfall

Summary: A half-day hike to one of the most impressive water falls in Albania. Quite eerily, the water emerges straight out of the rock.

Sotirë falls are in fact two falls: one coming from higher-up, and slim. The other straight out of the rock face, broad and wild. Naturally, the falls are biggest in spring, when the melting snow of Tomorri Mountain feeds the underground currents leading to the falls.

Our return trail follows a new construction road leading to the foot of the falls and a new hydropower plant. The road is dusty, and an eysore. It should be used possibly for the return hike, when time is pressing or darkness approaching. The better way is the old mulepath between Sotirë village and the falls.

Care should be taken not to miss the bridge across the river, which can be a major obstacle when the water level is high.

The paths approach the falls from a meadow higher-up. From the meadow, one has excellent views of the falls. A little more dramatic is the descent into the gorge to the foot of the falls. This descends for about 30 meter on a potentially slippery and exposed path. The falling waters moderate the temperature - it can in fact get quite cold at the bottom of the falls. For the views, you don't miss anything if you stay on top of the meadow.

Maximum altitude:	418 meter
Minimum altitude:	288 meter
Cumulative height:	179 meter
Cumulative length:	6.9 kilometer roundtrip
Difficulty	easy
Time:	3 hour
Date of this record	May 2013
Download GPS info:	Sotirë Waterfall

General location and approach: About 15 kilomter south of Gramsh, on the other side of the Devoll River, is the village of Sotirë. Furgons (minibuses) go to Sotirë, but a high clearance vehicle is advisable. The road poses no difficulty - but don't make this your first ever 4WD experience. Park the car in the village and start walking - or try to get closer to the falls by following the road, for which a 4WD might be necessary as long as construction work continues.

Other Information: There might be a time that the road to the falls will get asphalt (as we were told by enthusiastic Sotirë citizens). This will enhace the touristic potential, and we hope that the place will remain as beautiful as it was.

Sotire Waterfall is at the foot of Tomorri Mountain, about 15 kilometer south of Gramsh

There are two ways from Sotirë village to the falls. The first along the new road, and the other is a village path. This is the footbridge from Sotirë village to the road

The road to the foot of the falls, where a hydroenergy plant is under construction

Sotirë falls are unique, in that the water emerges from the rock

To reach the more interesting footpath back to Sotirë village, one has to cross this river

With luck (or GPS coordinates) one can find this somewhat rickety bridge

Ghostly, abandonned homesteads near Sotirë

GPS and trailmaps: The map and trailinformation is generated by , based on GPS information collected from the actual hike. Waypoints can be downloaded to a GPS device from Wikiloc. If necessary, use GPSBabel to convert GPS data to different formats. For more hike descriptions by Palmtreetreeproduction, browse this website or visit Wikiloc and search for "Palmtreeproduction". You may also find nearby trails from other authors.

Google Earth: You may also view the trail in 3D when viewing it in Google Earth, which you need to have installed on your computer. The 3D perspective allows a good preview of gradients, steepness, possible views and is generally helpful when planning a trip.