The Waterfalls of Nemouta

The waterfalls of Nemouta are a fairy-tale beautiful place. Our visit was cut short by a massive thunderstorm soaking the forest and enraging the rivers and streams. But I was so impressed with the little I’ve seen that I decided to write this post anyway.

The waterfalls of Nemouta are not very well known and finding them was a challenge. We come from the south through the village of Nemouta. This way, we descended down to the valley of Erymanthos by a dirt road with many turns and holes. There was just one sign for the Nemouta waterfalls at the village and halfway through the long descent we started to panic that we missed them.

A much better option is to reach the Erymanthos river and the waterfalls from the east via Neochori. Even this route still has some pretty bad sections, no signs whatsoever and we had to move a fallen tree to be able to continue. However, it didn’t seem as steep as the Nemouta road. Arriving at the river, park the car at the end of the asphalt road just behind a bridge. There is a tavern before the bridge providing both refreshments and information.

As we learned from the locals, the waterfalls lie on the border of Ilia and Arcadia marked by the Erymanthos river. The local politics and unnecessary wars make the utilization of this natural wonder slightly complicated. Even though the access from the Erimanthos Valley make much more sense, most of the waterfalls lie on the site of Ilia and are presented as part of Nemouta. As the tavern owner in Elea told us, even if they make a sign for the waterfalls the other party would come and take it down out of jealousy or just plain stupidity.

The main waterfall, locally cold Chinos, lies about 10 minutes from the bridge. Follow the dirt road to the left until reaching a small stream coming from a canyon to the right. A small path runs next to the stream through the narrowing ravine passing a couple of sheep with two pretty angry-looking shepherd dogs. The waterfall itself drops down through a huge chasm covered in fir and other greenery. It’s absolutely stunning and feels more like a tropical paradise than Greek countryside.

Other waterfalls are reachable by a narrow dirt road following the river upstream right from the tavern. It’s another 10 minutes walk to reach the first waterfall of impressive height. This is one of the few lying on the Arcadian side and was probably my favorite. Continuing further along the river bed another two waterfalls come to the sight on the other side.

However, even if there were no waterfalls whatsoever the green valley of Erymanthos is a magical place and really worth a visit. What’s more, it makes for a surprisingly refreshing escape from the hot and dry environment of the Peloponnesian beaches.