About Bagno Vignoni Waterfall
The Bagno Vignoni Waterfall is basically a man-made or man-modified waterfall where the thermal runoff from the historical center of the village of Bagno Vignoni was channeled through the Parco dei Mulini over a travertine cliff formation.
While I have a tendency to look upon modified or unnatural waterfalls with a bit of cynicism, like with a handful of other such waterfalls throughout Italy, this one has a bit of history associated with it.
In particular, the Parco dei Mulini (literally Park of the Mills) contains ruins of pools, mills, and water channels that date back to Etruscan times (which preceded the Romans).
These ruins basically showcased the ingenuity of the Italian predecessors as far as hydro-based engineering for the purpose of public baths was concerned.
The Course of the Bagno Vignoni Thermal Stream and Free Public Baths
As for the waterfall, it consists of the aforementioned channeled thermal stream leaping over a spout-like travertine formation before running alongside the impressive and colorful travertine formations.
Adjacent to the course of the stream were tunnels and relics of the mills that used to be here (hence the name of the park).
Towards the bottom of the thermal stream’s course, there are a couple of colorful pools that can be used for free bathing provided the water was warm enough to do that.
During our late November 2023 visit, the combination of freezing overnight temperatures combined with the distance that the thermal stream had to travel to reach the pools meant that no one was bathing at these pools.
Indeed, the water was quite cold to the touch when we sampled these waters.
Experiencing the Bagno Vignoni Waterfall
Since we stayed in the village of Bagno Vignoni, accessing the Bagno Vignoni Waterfall as well as the village’s centro storico (historical center) and the Parco dei Mulini was pretty straightforward.
We pretty much just had to walk downhill towards the Parco dei Mulini and the ruins there (essentially fronting the posh Posta Marcucci Resort).
That said, if you’re not staying in the village of Bagno Vignoni, then you can park at a public car park (see directions below) and walk to the Parco dei Mulini from there.
To the left side of the ruins (as you face the dropoffs), there’s a trail that descends all the way to the bottom of the travertine cliffs with branches along the way to experience the interesting parts of this excursion.
Even at the top of the cliffs among the ruins as well as in the upper parts of the trail, there was the Rocca d’Orcia village with its tower perched high up in the landscape across the valley carved out by the Fiume Orcia.
Looking in the other direction from this vantage point, there were attractive sweeping views of the Tuscan landscapes of legend complete with rolling hills and sparse estates lined with cypress trees.
The first fork led to a profile view of the cliffs next to some mill remnants and some tunnels with a look up at the brink of the spout giving rise to the Bagno Vignoni Waterfall.
The next fork got us down to a fenced area where the thermal stream actually went over parts of the trail for an even more upclose and personal look at the attractive hot springs travertine cliffs here.
The third fork led to an attractively colorful pool fed by falling water while being adjacent to another mill ruin with tunnel.
I’d imagine that this is the main pool that might be possible for bathing provided the conditions are right.
At the bottom of the trail, it actually keeps going towards the end of a dark and elongated pool that might also be possible for bathing though I’d imagine not many people would do it here.
There are other branching trails linking up with an unpaved road along the Fiume Orcia (Orcia River), which seemed to be used by locals and service vehicles.
This was our turnaround point, and overall, the out-and-back distance was probably a little over 1km, which took us a leisurely hour to do.
Authorities
The Bagno Vignoni Waterfall resides beneath the village of Bagno Vignoni near the town of San Quirico d’Orcia in the Siena Province right at the scenic heart of the Tuscany Region. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit the San Quirico d’Orcia Commune website.
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