Through the canyon of Scaa e S'Acca

Deep in the Sarrabus Mountains in southeastern Sardinia there is a gorge with the cumbersome name Scaa e s’Acca. Scaa is the abbreviation for Scala (stairs), and Acca is probably a name. The research doesn’t reveal anything more. Regardless – this canyon is a feast for the eyes and the visual highlight of an off-road tour into the Sarrabus Mountains. But the trip is also worth it in other ways: The Sarrabus is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Italy and a must for souls tired of civilization. There are also a lot of legally accessible, rarely used gravel roads there. In short – an El Dorado for off-road fans. The main river is the Flumendosa, which flows through the region from northwest to southeast.

Our tour penetrates the eastern part of the Sarrabus Mountains on an easy-to-drive gravel road, climbs several ridges and reaches the town of Villasalto, which is just over 500 meters high. In between there is the canyon, several fords and lots of exciting gravel kilometers.

It starts in San Vito, the small, picturesque village on the Flumini Uri. The trail follows it for several kilometers. Then it leaves it and climbs deeper into the mountains. Until, after about eight kilometers, it reaches the canyon with the difficult name. A path takes us to a crystal-clear pool of water and a waterfall that mark the entrance to the gorge. Silence, solitude, water, energy - the promised experience is not long in coming.
The route then climbs to around 600 meters in altitude, then descends down the valley, crosses a river in a side valley of the Flumendosa and finally reaches Villasalto. From there it is another eight kilometers down to the SS 387 in the Flumendosa valley.