The Cascate di Lillaz Hike – Easy Waterfall Hike near Cogne, Italy

The Hike to Le Cascate di Lillaz, or Lillaz Waterfalls, is an easy Waterfall hike near Cogne, in Val d’Aosta. Located near the Gran Paradiso National Park,  the Lillaz Waterfalls are a three-tiered series of waterfalls along the Torrent d’Urtier (Urtier Brook).

The waterfalls develop along a 100m elevation difference and a short trail less than 2km long. Plus, there’s a fourth, “Bonus” waterfall above them, the Cascata Biolet, which is worth visiting too.

This is a short hike that took much longer than expected for such a short trail. The views of the waterfalls are nice, and if you have a camera, you’ll also likely spend a lot of time taking pictures. I surely did. So a trail that could technically be completed in half an hour ended up taking more than one hour.

Cascata Biolet, upstream of the Cascate di Lillaz

Table of Contents

Overview of the Cascate di Lillaz Hike & Map

The hike is quite short, and there are some stairs on the trail, but sections of the trail can be steep and/or slippery. The trail is well-maintained and can either be done as an out-and-back hike or as a loop, hiking up along one side of the river and coming back on the opposite one.

Here is the map of the hike. You can download the GPX file for free from the activity linked below.

How to get to the Cascate di Lillaz trailhead and Parking

Typically, the short Hike to the Lillaz waterfall is done as a “side” visit to Cogne and to other hikes in the area. So it’s an ideal short hike if you are visiting the Gran Paradiso Park from Cogne and are looking for something to do.

If you are staying in Cogne, you can also walk directly to Lillaz without having to take the car, and that will add x KM to the hike

• Driving Directions: From every direction, except Chamonix/Courmayeur, you’ll have to drive through the city of Aosta first. From North of the Alps, you can reach Aosta through various mountain passes, like the Great St Bernard or Gotthard, further to the East. Then, from Aosta, you can follow the signs to Cogne. Then continue toward Lillaz.
• Parking: The main, paid parking area in Lillaz is here. There is another smaller, free parking area on the opposite side of the river, but there is only space for a few cars. The area is here.
• Public Transport: Buses only stop in Cogne, so to get to Lillaz, you could take a bus from Aosta to Cogne and then walk the rest of the way. Timetable on svap.it.

Starting point of the Hike.

The Cascate di Lillaz Hiking Trail

The trail entirely develops around the waterfalls, so within a couple of minutes of leaving the parking area, you’ll come across the first waterfall. The first one is one of the tallest, and it has three main viewpoints. A lower, a middle, and an upper viewpoint.

From the lower viewpoint, you can view the tallest part of the waterfall as it falls into a narrow gorge.

Lower part of the Lillaz Waterfall

As you climb up on the side of the mountain next to the waterfall, you’ll temporarily lose sight of the waterfall, which will become visible again at the middle viewpoint. Along the sets of stairs that lead further up, you’ll be able to see the upper part of the first waterfall.

The view is quite nice, as you have the waterfall relatively close, right in front of you. The vegetation around it also provides an additional layer that seems to fram the waterfall arounf the otherwise bare rock.

Middle viewpoint of the Falls

From there, you can reach the upper and smaller, but equally nice, Lillaz waterfall. This waterfall is shorter but wider and seems to come out of the rock and the trees, almost out of nowhere.

Compared to the lower waterfall, this area is much wider

As you walk further uphill, you will reach a bridge that connects the trail to the other side, and goes back down on the opposite side of the river.

However, the trail also continues further uphill to another amazing waterfall, the Biolet Waterfall. Of all the waterfalls, this is the tallest.

Cascata Biolet – a “Bonus”, Upstream Waterfall

As you reach the last of the Lillaz falls, you’ll notice a sign that says “Cascata di Biolet 0.05 min”. As it’s just another five minutes, I highly recommend not skipping it. It is also by far the tallest of the waterfalls on this trail.

Upper part of Cascata Biolet.

Here, too, there are two different viewpoints: an upper and a lower one on the river bed. The upper view puts you right in front of the top part of the waterfall. The views are limited from here, as the trail is on the side of the mountain, next to the rockface the waterfall drops off of.

The lower viewpoint puts you directly on the riverbed, assuming water levels allow it. This is where you can get a true sense of the scale of the waterfall, which is quite difficult to render properly in photos. You can also feel its power, as there is a lot of water spray around it.

Anyway, from the Cascata Biolet you can walk back to the bridge across the river, and walk down the other side of the river to get back to the starting point and to close the loop.

Cascate di Lillaz & Biolet Photos and Photography Tips

The Cascate di Lillaz are a great spot for anyone wanting to photograph some flowing water and long exposures. As the waterfalls develop a rather long stretch of the river, they offer many opportunities.

However, I found them to be not the “point and shoot’ type of waterfalls. Rather, they need to carefully think about the composition and to carefully compose the shot to the millimeter.

To me, this is actually a plus, because it gives you the chance to come up with your unique compositions and photos.

In some places, the water spray is so intense, especially around the Biolet waterfall, that you’d definitely need to have something to keep the camera dry and wipe the front element or filter dry.

I did this in autumn, around mid-October. The autumn colors were already in full swing, and that was a great bonus. While the volume of water going through the falls is typically lower in Autumn, the Lillaz waterfalls are even better with some fall foliage around. It feels as if being in a well-maintained garden.

Where to stay

There are a few accommodations available in Lillaz, and two camp sites: camping “al Sole” and camping “Les Salasses”.

For more choice, best to stay in Cogne, a small mountain town that offers more amenities compared to Lillaz.

Additional Resources

• If you are in Cogne, do not miss the Valnontey and Alpe Money hike in the Gran Paradiso National Park.
• Here’s the main page on Hiking in Italy for more hikes and scenic spots in Italy.