BENJË CANYON

It is worth saying that if there is any flaw to be found in the Benjë canyon, it is that due to the “difficulty” of access to the village, it can be lazy, or less attractive to the most affluent traveler or canyoneer who does not want to go further beyond where “progress” and tar allow easy access.

Having visited the canyon, however, we consider it necessary to emphasize that a trip to Albania is still today an adventure trip, where uncertainty must be part of our day to day, and that is where the adventure, if it is not in places like these, where is there no valid 112 call? Where you need to be self-sufficient, for better or for worse. And allow us to strongly recommend that if you find yourself on a canyoneering trip in Albania, and more specifically in the Permët area, schedule an escape to Benjë in your agenda, and that if necessary, put the car against the ropes and your skills at the wheel, that the road, no matter how bad it is, and unpaved, will lead you to a valley, a village, and ultimately a canyon, both lonely and beautiful and above all, fun, very, very fun!

BENJËS CANYON DATA

Activity: Canyoning in Albania
Other toponyms: Benjë – Benjë
Starting point: Benjë – Novoselë church
Nearest town: Permet, for services
Car combination: no
Approach time: 40′
Descent time: 1h30′
Return time: 20′
Difficulty: v3a3III
Longest abseil: 20 mts.
Rope: 2×25
Cartography:
Soviet Military ~ 1980 – 1: 50,000 (Via Russian Topomaps APP)
Bibliography:
Canyonisme en Albanie – Guillaume Coquin
Albania Canyoning – Pascal Van Duin
Wild Albania – 1º International Canyoning Meeting – Vertical Water
Observations: Provide replacement material to install, just in case.

ACCESS AND APPROACH TO BENJËS CANYON IN ALBANIA

We will drive from Permët towards Petran on the SH75 until we find the intersection with the road that goes to Benjës and the thermal baths, where we will see a very characteristic large rocky cliff.

Taking the turnoff to the left we will follow the main track for about four kilometers where after a slight climb and before crossing the river in a curve to the right, we will find a turnoff from which a dirt track leaves on the left. We will follow this track avoiding any detours, remaining very attentive to driving, since if we do not drive a tall vehicle, we may have difficulty moving forward.

Arriving in the village of Benjë, we will park in the church grounds. Try to be respectful of the place and the neighbors.

In our case, we picked up a neighbor who just made the turn, who asked us if we could bring her closer to the village and very kindly, without knowing a word of English, she explained to us the best way to approach.
Words like “me litar” (with rope) or lumi (river), përrua (water stream), üje (water) are of great help to communicate with Albanians when we talk about canyons.

The approach is made by returning to the track we came from, right when it drops towards the church, at the edge of the mountain and from where a track comes out. In 2023 and on the occasion of the meeting, the approach has been marked with dots of blue paint, a practice with which we cannot disagree more, because we consider that mountain orientation must be an intrinsic skill for any canyoneer , even more so in the 21st century with all the technology and maps available around the globe.

Ethical debates aside, the track continues and after about a hundred meters a path leaves to the right and goes in search of some rock ramps where the path gets a little blurry. It will be at this point where the morphology of the land is more spectacular, being able to observe on the other side a huge rock bridge, which well reminds of a huge vulva with its clitoris at the top of the rock bridge, or at least this is how the whole group observed it (9 homenots, all by the way!)

We will follow the path until we reach some meadows where there are some constructions that look like a pleta, and a shepherd’s hut, and we will look for the best way to go down to the river, going down some bundles formed by the characteristic flysch of the country.

BENJËS CANYONING DESCENT

Once equipped we will start the canyon, with a beautiful waterfall of about 12 meters but also, if we look on the right bank for a small gully that allows us to climb down, we can jump, but be careful, because the reception pool is not deep, so better to jump from the bottom and go up, since the jump can be repeated.

We will continue, and what awaits us ahead is surely one of the most fun canyons in the Permet area, with all its slides, two of them quite spectacular, but also some treacherous tolles that don’t even cover up to the knees , so notice to surfers, double check before you jump in!

Our descent will continue through a well-excavated and winding corridor, which will accompany us at all times overcoming a small slide, followed by a rappel of about three meters, which is followed by a spectacular slide that we will identify because it has a handrail for come closer to see the header and outcome. This one is pretty clear, although with high flows it could present difficulties.

Continuing with the canyon we will reach a new jump of about fifteen meters that we will have to do with a rope; further on, another one of about ten meters and we will continue for another one of seven.

Further on, we will find a jump, a discreet slide and we will reach a new rappel that is around ten meters and where you have to rappel.

We continue our descent by making a slide, and we will reach a beautiful jump of seven meters to continue putting fun in this beautiful canyon. You have to keep going, and it doesn’t stop, and we’ll reach another spectacular eight-metre slide, which we can also jump with a trace.

Now it’s time to walk, but less than a hundred meters to find another timid jump, which will be followed by another, already higher, around seven meters.

We walk again, and we reach a small rappel, before the confluence with another stream that enters from the right.

Here we will observe how the canyon was collapsed at some point and its trajectory has changed.

At this point, we could abandon the descent, going out on the rock ledge to the right, in the direction of the bridge or aqueduct, we have not taken the clear water from it.

In any case, if we continue the descent, which we hope is the case for everyone, it is advisable to look for an installation on the right to mount a handrail and thus safely access the head of the highest rappel of the descent, which we will do for the active

Walking briefly we will pass under the bridge and we will only have a rappel of about five meters left to finish the sports part.

HOW TO RETURN FROM BENJËS CANYON

When the canyon opens, we’ll look for a very obvious path that leads back to the path we used for the approach on the right, so we’ll return to the car without complications of any kind.