About Nemouta Waterfalls (Καταρράκτης Νεμούτας)
The Nemouta Waterfalls (or Καταρράκτης Νεμούτας in Greek) consist of a series of waterfalls around the Erymanthos River near the village of Nemouta.
Depending on how ambitious you are, you could see as little as one waterfall here, or as many as five or more (some say up to 30).
Personally, I opted to just witness 3 during my early April 2024 visit as more than one local warned me that the last two waterfalls involved some steep scrambling and bushwhacking to reach (who knows about the rest?).
Therefore, in this write-up, I’ll just focus on the three Nemouta Waterfalls that I did visit.
After all, these made for a pretty decent excursion on their own, particularly since they were the most accessible ones of the lot.
Of course, these waterfalls were my excuse to chase some waterfalls while visiting Ancient Olympia (i.e. the place where the Olympic Games were originated in 776 BC).
Technically, I could have treated each waterfall as its own separate excursion, but I found it easier to just lump them together since they all can be experienced in a single excursion on foot.
Speaking of accessing these waterfalls, despite being pretty close to Ancient Olympia, they’re actually still under-the-radar as far as tourism is concerned.
The main reason is that it’s not well-signed from neither Ancient Olympia nor the neighboring highways.
Even trying to navigate here on your own by GPS may end up being a joy-ride to nowhere (I know both GoogleMaps and my Garmin Nuvi tried to lead me astray).
Indeed, it took some local advice by a friendly proprietor at the Leonidaion Guest House in Ancient Olympia, who gave me the key hints at getting to the waterfalls, which I’ll get into in the directions below.
Accessing the First Nemouta Waterfall
The first of the Nemouta Waterfalls was actually off the west side of the Erymanthos River.
According to the local signage that I spotted around the bridge over the river, this particular waterfall is actually named Nemoutas or Νεμούτας while others have called it “Gate of Paradise”.
After finding parking before the bridge over the Erymanthos River (see directions below), I backtracked about 300m to a side stream being traversed over a bridge by the road I took to get here.
On the south side of this bridge, there was a trail of use accompanied by a sign warning about the risk of landslide here.
I then followed this path a little over 200m where the trail of use clung to the banks of the stream as the gorge closed in.
During my early April 2024 visit, there were a couple of minor stream crossings as well as was a fallen tree that kind of impacted the trail of use roughly 100m in.
While these were the only obstacles I faced on this short hike and scramble to the first of the Nemouta Waterfalls, it did underscore the inherent rockfall and/or landslide danger given the steepness of this gorge.
When I reached the first Nemouta Waterfall, I saw that there was a giant boulder wedge leaving a sort of “arch” or “tunnel” revealing the pretty tall waterfall behind it.
Even though I could have just enjoyed the partial view of the 20m Nemouta Waterfall from before the boulder wedge and lower cascade “tunnel”, I opted to unsling my day pack and carefully scramble up the slippery boulder obstacle within the “tunnel” to get past it.
From there, I was able to see the entirety of the secluded “Gate of Paradise” waterfall (named thanks to that wedged boulder) as well as its lush surroundings.
The giant boulder looked like it was precariously perched at a narrow part of the gorge, which keeps it propped up, but I did notice cracks to the left side (looking downstream) making me wonder how much longer it will stay wedged like this.
Anyways, after having my fill of this first Nemouta Waterfall, I then backtracked to the bridge over the Erymanthos River making this out-and-back detour take roughly 30-45 minutes (of which I spent 20 minutes taking pictures and videos).
Accessing the Second and Third Nemouta Waterfalls
The next two Nemouta Waterfalls can be accessed on a pretty straightforward path that goes through a private farm, which the owner(s) graciously allowed to pass through for public enjoyment.
According to the signage here, these waterfalls are called Soufala (Σουφάλασ) and Agios Ioannis or Saint Gianni (Αγίου Γιάννη).
From the spot where I parked to the west side of the steel bridge over the Erymanthos River, I then crossed it to the Elia side before going upstream on the first path to the left.
A yellow sign here helped me to identify that road as the way I should be going.
From there, I just walked in the upstream direction along this path, where I had to open and close the wire gate to ensure the livestock doesn’t leave the farm.
Beyond the gate, I pretty much walked the next 500m through the farm on mostly flat and mildly undulating terrain on a well-defined path.
At that point, I then reached another signed fork, where the path on the right led me to the Soufala Waterfall, which I’m dubbing the second Nemouta Waterfall.
This particular waterfall was pretty tall (maybe also around 20m in height), but it fell in two twisting tiers, where the upper drop is harder to see.
I noticed that right at this waterfall’s base, the air was refreshingly cool (it had been quite warm during my early April 2024 visit) so it wouldn’t surprise me if this was a popular spot to just chill out.
Anyways, continuing on the other fork of the trail, I then hiked the remaining 250m or so to a view of the third and final Nemouta Waterfall in this write-up, which is called Agios Ioannis (essentially “St John”).
The trail disappeared into a bunch of riverside rocks and informal paths paralleling the Erymanthos River roughly 100m beyond the Soufala Waterfall trail fork.
From there, I just followed the banks of the river upstream past some interesting travertine alcoves seen across the river before getting to a view of the St John Waterfall.
When I saw this waterfall during my early April 2024 visit, a modestly-sized column of water fell over a cliff and joined the Erymanthos River, but next to it was what appeared to be light-flowing springs.
I’ve seen in the literature where those springs became a more pronounced curtain of water, and perhaps in times of higher flow, this waterfall pairing would put on a show.
However, Southern Greece was experiencing a multi-year drought during this visit (as was most of the Mediterranean Region) so I had to be content that the waterfalls were still flowing despite the Climate Change-induced anomalies.
On the way back, I had to make sure to pay attention to the “H” signs, which acted like trail markers helping me to regain the established trail upon leaving the river’s east bank.
Overall, I spent about another hour to fully experience Nemouta Waterfalls 2 and 3 covering about 1.5-2.2km in length.
Authorities
The Nemouta Waterfalls reside near the villages of Nemouta and Elia near the border of the Ilia and Arcadia Prefectures of the Western Greece and Peloponnese Administrative Regions of Greece, respectively. It is not clear if there’s an official governing body that presides over these waterfalls. However, it seems like local landowners from Elia and the Nemouta Village have been responsible for signs and road/trail infrastructure. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Greece National Tourism Organization website.
The Nemouta Waterfalls in this write-up reside on either side of the Erymanthos River, which defines the border between the former prefectures of Ilias and Arcadia of the Western Greece and Peloponnese Administrative Regions, respectively.
Although it’s tempting to try to use GPS navigation via smart phone or satellite navigation units, I’ve found that local advice saved me a lot of time and headache from technology.
Indeed, while technology has done much to make our lives easier (perhaps too much so), this was one example where such technology probably doesn’t work as you’d expect.
I’ll describe this driving direction from Ancient Olympia, which was where I based myself (and I’d imagine most foreign tourists would as well), to the Nemouta Waterfalls.
However, I’ll do this via the route that Damiano of the Leonidaion Guest House recommended that I take, which definitely deviated significantly from what GoogleMaps as well as Garmin Nuvi tried to steer me towards.
From Ancient Olympia, I basically headed out of town about 2km northwards towards the E074 Highway going east.
Roughly a little over 3km east of the on-ramp, I then took the left turn towards “Lalas”, which was the key hint that Damiano gave me.
Resisting the navigation trying to steer me away from this route, I then drove for the next 13km through the town of Lalas before turning right at a signed turnoff for Nemouta (right before a church).
Then, I drove a little over 14km to some unsigned parking spaces just west of the steel bridge spanning the Erymanthos River (the village of Nemouta was about 8km down this route).
Beyond Nemouta Village, the road was a steeply descending, nearly single-lane road with numerous switchbacks traversing through a fire-scarred area that luckily didn’t affect the area at the Nemouta Waterfalls.
Overall, this drive took me about an hour (though Damiano said it would take him 45 minutes, which might be more of a statement about how quickly local Greeks drive as opposed to foreign tourists).
For geographical context, Ancient Olympia is about 20km (under 20 minutes drive) east of Pyrgos, 26km (about 30 minutes drive) northeast of Nemouta, 109km (under 2 hours drive) north of Pylos, 114km (over 90 minutes) northwest of Kalamata, about 116km (under 2 hours drive) south of Patras, 198km (over 2.5 hours drive) west of Nafplio, and 291km (about 3.5 hours drive) west of Athens.
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Approaching the rock wedge through which the first of the Nemouta Waterfalls can be seen
Looking up at the first of the Nemouta Falls from underneath the boulder wedge
Long video scoping out the area behind the boulder wedge tunnel and providing its context
Checking out the second Nemouta Waterfall from a more elevated perspective on its approach
Checking out the second Nemouta Waterfall from its cool base
Looking across the Erymanthos River towards the spring and the third waterfall
Checking out the third waterfall before walking further downstream while still gazing at the falls before getting across the river from some travertine alcoves
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