Baatara gorge waterfall

Baatara gorge waterfall
Location Tannourine, Lebanon
Coordinates 34°10.406′N 35°52.222′E / 34.173433°N 35.870367°ECoordinates: 34°10.406′N 35°52.222′E / 34.173433°N 35.870367°E
Type Plunge
Number of drops 1
Longest drop 90-100 meters

The Baatara gorge waterfall (Balaa gorge waterfall) is a waterfall in the Tannourine, Lebanon.[1]

The waterfall drops 255 metres (837 ft) into the Baatara Pothole, a cave of Jurassic limestone[2] located on the Lebanon Mountain Trail.[3]

Discovered in 1952 by French bio-speleologist Henri Coiffait,[4] the waterfall and accompanying sinkhole were fully mapped in the 1980s by the Spéléo club du Liban.[5] The cave is also known as the "Cave of the Three Bridges."[6] Traveling from Laklouk to Tannourine one passes the village of Balaa, and the "Three Bridges Chasm" (in French "Gouffre des Trois Ponts") is a five-minute journey into the valley below where one sees three natural bridges, rising one above the other and overhanging a chasm descending into Mount Lebanon. During the spring melt, a 90–100-metre (300–330 ft) cascade falls behind the three bridges and then down into the 250-metre (820 ft) chasm. A 1988 fluorescent dye test demonstrated that the water emerged at the spring of Dalleh in Mgharet al-Ghaouaghir.[7][8][9]

References

  1. ↑ 10 Most Beautiful Waterfalls of the World | Listphobia
  2. ↑ "Balaa Pothole Lebanon". Tourism Lebanon. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  3. ↑ "The Lebanon Mountain Trail Project". United States Agency for International Development. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Baatara Gorge – the Waterfall that Drops into a Cave". Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  5. ↑ "Baatara Pothole". Heather Travels. 13 March 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  6. ↑ Paul Courbon, Claude Chabert; Peter Bosted and Karen Lindsley (1989). Atlas of the Great Caves of the World. Cave Books. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-939748-21-1.
  7. ↑ Dr. Hani Abdul-Nour. "Ballouh Baatura, or The Three Bridges Chasm in Balaa". DiscoverLebanon.com. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  8. ↑ "La région de Tannourine" (in French). LibanVision. Retrieved 2010-07-15. De ses 240 mètres de hauteur ... C’est le plus impressionnant des trois, surtout que durant la saison de fonte des neiges, une cascade d’eau s’y forme, tombant en chute libre sur 90 mètres.
  9. ↑ Terry Carter, Lara Dunston, Andrew Humphreys (2004). Syria & Lebanon. Lonely Planet. p. 291. ISBN 978-1-86450-333-3.

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