Discover the wonderful excursions you can do around Dorgali
Supramonte is one of the most fascinating, mysterious, and wildest areas of Sardinia, and Dorgali constitutes the northern limit of this vast karst area. Historical and naturalistic places of great beauty are scattered throughout the territory, with different peculiarities and paths, able to please everyone, from the most adventurous personalities to those more prone to relax.
Hidden and unexpected, the nuragic village of Tiscali develops inside a sinkhole on the edge of the Supramonte of Dorgali. Dated back to the recent nuragic, it is composed of about forty circular and rectangular huts, some of them still intact, arranged in two districts and leaning against the walls. The peculiarity of the site is also given by the microclimate, cool in summer and warm in winter, which has stimulated the growth of holm oaks, junipers, ash trees, olive trees, mastic trees and figs. Inside, a path runs along the edge of the sinkhole, flanking a precipice of about 200 meters.
Serra Orrios village
Almost a small Nuragic city located on the Gollei plateau, Serra Orrios is one of the best preserved nuragic villages on the island. Divided into districts and neighborhoods, surrounded by nuraghi, it contains sacred areas, megaron temples, public structures and houses with wells and tanks. In addition to the structures, Serra Orrios has given important finds that have made it possible to identify its use, they re displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Dorgali.
Nuraghe Mannu stands on a basaltic high ground in a predominant position in the center of the Gulf of Orosei. Its name, which translated means “Great Nuraghe”, probably comes from the width of the tower, with a diameter of 13 meters, built with large vulcanite and basalt boulders. Around the nuraghe there is a village of small huts, with circular and rectangular shape.
Cala Luna is an inlet carved into the cliffs with an 800-meter-long strip of fine golden sand in the center, which plunges into the clear, blue-toned sea. The cove rises in the mouth of the Ilune stream, a stream that for thousands of years has carved out the long Codula di Luna canyon, which feeds a small lake behind the beach, surrounded by a forest of oleanders and Macchia Mediterranea. The cliffs, 300 meters high and bolted in some places, are composed on the north side by five large caves, inside which it is possible to shelter during the hottest hours.
Grotta del Bue Marino
The Bue Marino cave takes its name from the monk seal that lived there until the 1980s, in Sardinian dialect “‘Oe Marinu”. The cave is 5 km long and divides into two branches: south branch and north branch. The south branch, accessible by sea and open to the public, consists of a large gallery in which the sea water expands to form numerous lakes, including a salt lake, one of the largest in the world, about 1 km. Along the way it is possible to admire stalactites and stalagmites of various sizes up to the beach of the seals, where the monk seal use to give gave birth to her cubs.
A kaleidoscope of shapes and colors with a mysterious past, a descent inside an underground room of 80 meters in diameter. The Ispinigoli Cave owes its fame and name (thorn in the gorge) to the 38-meter-high column, a limestone concretion that unites the vault and the base of the cavity, one of the most impressive in Europe. Walking through an equipped path, consisting of 280 steps, it will be possible to admire concretions that stand out from the walls, undulating formations and small stalagmites, until you reach the “abyss of virgins”, a narrow channel 60 meters deep, about 12 km long, that can only be accessed by the most experienced speleologists.
Tomb of the giants of S’Ena e Thomes
In the valley of the Rio Isalle, at the end of a 500-meter path surrounded by the Macchia Mediterranea, hides one of the most important Nuragic funerary monuments on the island: the tomb of the giants of S’Ena ‘e Thomes. A large stele, a granite slab almost four meters high, is placed in the center of an exedra, a semicircle made up of stone slabs that delimit the sacred area. Behind it, almost intact, is the dolmen-shaped funerary corridor, about 11 meters long.
Forests of Suttaterra and Ghivine
In these extensive forests on the slopes of the Supramonte, where the holm oak is the king, it is possible to carry out various trekking routes that go from the mountains to the sea. Here, you can admire some old shepherds’ shelters, called “sos cuiles” and natural monuments such as the Suttaterra arch, which frames the Oddoene valley and the Dionanicoro plateau.
Sa Barva is river oasis of peace and serenity. Composed of granite rocks smoothed by the crystalline water of the Rio Frumeneddu, rows of oleanders, natural pools, and small white beaches, it is a valid alternative to a day at the beach. It is also the starting point for trekking and climbing enthusiasts, from which it is possible to reach the Gorropu canyon, the village of Tiscali and numerous shepherds shelters displayed throughout the Supramonte.
Famous for the intricate paths once known only to shepherds and charcoal industry workers, today Lanaitto is the starting point for trekking itineraries leading to naturalistic and archaeological treasures. It is set between imposing limestone ridges, inhabited by holm oaks, terebinths, maples, olive trees and centuries-old junipers, it allows you to reach, among many others, the caves of “Sa Oche” and “Su Bentu”, the Source of Su Gologone and the Nuragic village of “Sa Sedda ‘e sos Carros”.
Source Su Gologone
Su Gologone is a splendid karst resurgence at the foot of Mount Uddè, Oliena, and represents the last upstream point of the Cedrino river. It looks like a small lake nestled between two high walls of dolomite rock, where the crystalline water is colored with shades ranging from emerald to turquoise or deep blue, depending on the light and sun exposure. The excellent visibility conditions and the depth of the waters represent an irresistible challenge for numerous speleo-divers from all over the world.
In the heart of the Supramonte there is a surprising and majestic place: the Gorropu Canyon. A canyon of erosive origin, one kilometer and a half long, shaped over time by the strength of the Frumeneddu stream, which flows on the bottom, fed by waters that cross the Supramonte. Venturing inside, it will be possible to observe the force of nature, because the walls contain fossils belonging to the underwater genesis, which took place between 160 and 90 million years ago.