The Cavu pools and the Sainte-Lucie stream

Date of your route : Sep 15, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A very beautiful hike. We swam in the pool with the waterfall. It was just incredible.
The photos speak for themselves!

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Date of your route : May 19, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

Hike taken in May 2025.
Much of the hike takes place on a forest path that is not particularly interesting, except for a few views of the surrounding mountains. The main attraction is the pools. Be very careful between points 3 and 4, as the descent is very steep and can be dangerous in wet weather. Don't hesitate to climb the surrounding rocks in dry weather around point 5 to get a view of the pools. Don't forget to visit the pools not far from the 3 Piscines car park.

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Date of your route : Aug 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

Easy route, not very exciting, mainly on a track that is only used by authorised vehicles (so rarely used) - Walk done in overcast weather, but probably not much shade when the sun is shining. Several paths lead to the river in the last few metres, of varying difficulty (it seems to me that the trail indicates a fairly steep path, whereas an easier access is just before) - Very nice reward at the end, with splendid pools that definitely make you forget the somewhat tedious path, even if the environment is very pretty.

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GOOD EVENING, thank you, enjoy Corsica, best regards, Bruno

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Date of your route : Jul 15, 2024
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

A lovely walk with a reward at the end: a dip in a natural pool in a remarkable setting.

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Hello Philippe, thank you for these clarifications. Enjoy your walks.

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Some information updated in December 2023:
- The access trail indicated on foot for approaching Sainte-Lucie and its pools is now closed to vehicles from 15 June to 31 October by the municipality of Zonza/Sainte-Lucie. Only authorised persons (hunters, local residents, associations, etc.) are allowed to use it => less traffic in summer and mainly visitors on foot
- The association "A Punta Bunifazinca" has restored a new trail (currently numbered PR9) between Ranuchjaghja (Trois-Piscines with its snack bar) and the descent trail to Sainte-Lucie in a left-hand bend (end of the Sapara Vardata trail). This path is obviously the one to follow rather than the track from Ranuchjaghja: it is easy, shaded as it runs through woodland almost all the way, marked and signposted (when the signs have not been destroyed by local vandals). It starts at Ranuchjaghja like the circular Ranedda (PR6), which it leaves 200m further on to continue directly 50 to 100m higher in altitude than the track. This path crosses the track 1600m further on and continues with a descent crossing the Sapara Vardata stream and then running alongside the rocky chaos where the cave is located. It is a restoration of a historic section of the old "Chemin de la Montagne aux Plages" (Mountain to Beaches Trail) that ran from Pinareddu to Bocca di Castedducciu, which can be reached (3 to 4 hours' walk) by continuing along the Sainte-Lucie RD (HR14) and then the Finicione RD (HR12) trails!
- From the end of this path, you can either continue straight ahead along the track to finish as indicated on the map described on this page, or take the track on the right and descend via a steep, well-cleared path to find a shortcut to the lower branch of the track along Sainte-Lucie.
- Return via the same route or by crossing Sainte-Lucie at the end of the lower branch of the track, climbing up a side track on the left bank (cairns), then taking the Lora - San Martinu (PR8) trail which leads back to the Funtanedda bridge and then the Marion bridge.

Please note that these routes require a minimum level of orientation skills, map reading ability and understanding of the terrain. There are countless lost hikers in the Cavu Valley, searching for "natural pools" or trying to follow a Visorando guidebook without a map and without knowing how to use GPS...

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Hello
Thank you for your review. With the current temperatures and sunshine in Corsica, it must have been lovely.
Enjoy your hikes in Corsica.
Bruno

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Date of your route : Dec 23, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Do this hike at the end of December and you'll be alone! I was able to park at the 3 swimming pools car park and I had a 4x4 to get there.
It was great! Three-quarters of the hike is on a wide, easy trail that's suitable for children.
Access the water basins, a very beautiful and pleasant place to take a dip, even in December.
Perfect for reconnecting with yourself and nature. Thank you.

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Date of your route : Sep 26, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We parked at the adventure park, followed the directions and found ourselves alone for a swim. We left at 9:00 a.m. and had a very beautiful hike.

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Date of your route : Sep 09, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

We parked in the lower car park (we didn't really have a choice) and didn't use the shuttle bus. The route was completed in three hours. There were lots of people at the bottom of the trail, but everyone stopped at the three pools.
Most of the route follows a firebreak, but it's a pleasant walk, partly in the shade, and it's really worth it. There are beautiful views all along the way and the pools are truly magnificent and very uncrowded.

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For the 2022 summer season:

- The trail (D168a) is closed just after the Adventure Park at the municipal car park (€5/day).
- Free shuttle bus from the municipal car park to Ranuchjaghja (Trois-Piscines) where both tracks are closed to cars (RD and RG)
- Beyond that, you have to walk or, better still, take a mountain bike or, above all, an electric bike (available for hire at the Adventure Park), which will take you a long way (to the start of the paths where walking is compulsory - HRxx paths in the upper valley).

Don't forget to use the two paths on the right bank (PR3bis) and left bank (PR3) of the river rather than the D168a track! These paths are signposted at their ends (signs) and along the PR3bis route and are marked (yellow FFRP markers).

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Hello Francois
Thank you for your comment.
Admittedly, even though it is a sunny track in the morning, it is partly in the shade in the afternoon around 7 pm on the way back.
Admittedly, it is a track, but in high season the barrier is closed at the bar of the three swimming pools and only a few 4x4s belonging to local people pass through. Admittedly, it is a track, but the pools are so beautiful that this inconvenience seems secondary to me. And then between 1 and 2 p.m. we are in the shade. And as you say, it was difficult to leave.
Have a great end to your holiday, Bruno.

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Date of your route : May 30, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★☆☆ Average
Very busy route : No

I agree with the comments below about this route.
You can't really call it a hike, since we're on a wide, dusty track that's very exposed to the sun both in the morning and afternoon, and on Saturday 27 May it was a bit hot... So imagine what it's like in July and August!
Well, we chose the best time to go.
It was the last hike of our stay, and what a pleasure it was to be almost alone (four people) in these pools of clear, cool water. It was very difficult for us to leave.
We don't know the area well enough to explore off the beaten track, but maybe next time.
I can't bear to think about the crowds and vehicles that come up here in high season. It must be unbearable...

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In my opinion, these pools are not relevant to the topic of "hiking", as I have already stated previously!

If you wish to visit the stream upstream from the Marionu bridge, please note that it is called the Sainte-Lucie stream (even though it is still the Cavu) and that it is usually explored by means of a water walk from the Figa bridge (a destroyed reinforced concrete bridge at an altitude of 300 metres) with a short walk over boulders between the first pool and the next series, or the pool-waterfall of the series in question, avoiding the walk over boulders.
See Le Ruisseau de Sainte-Lucie on "Corse sauvage" or a fun video of this water descent on the website of the association "A Punta Bunifazinca".

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