The drop gives no warning. The path climbs the Danè stream through the woods, the valley narrows and at some point a rock wall blocks the way: the waterfall appears out of a crack in it, six or seven metres of water falling into a pool. This is above Quiliano, in the hills behind Savona, within the territory of the hamlet of Montagna. The name comes from a legend everyone here knows: Usanna, a girl from Viarasca — as Montagna was once called — climbed onto a boulder below the Danea mill to catch sight of her Pellegrino, who was being led in chains to the castle of Pomo for refusing to pay the lord's tolls; she leaned out too far and fell, but a jet of water burst from the rock, formed a lake and saved her.
What to see
The waterfall is the last act: you come out into a clearing and there it is, with its pool underneath, at the one point where the wood opens up. The drop is six or seven metres, and in spring it is a different thing altogether from the end of August.
The rest you see while walking. The Danè comes down from the Montagna valley and the path crosses it several times, switching from one bank to the other between small falls and pools: those pools are exactly why local people climb up here on hot days. Two bridges survive, the Ponte della Ratta, in stone and long abandoned, and a little further on the Ponte della Faia, where a trail branches off to the right and climbs to the hamlet of Montagna. The final stretch keeps to the left bank.
Visiting
The walk starts from the hamlet of Mulini: 2.8 km of path and 120 metres of climb in all, an hour or a little more at a normal pace. There are no tickets and no gates, this is a public trail and you walk it whenever you like. The fords are frequent, though, and wet stones are slippery: bring shoes with a proper sole, not beach sandals. After heavy rain the last section can turn hard work.
Our editors' tip
Go in spring, or a few days after rain. With little water the fall thins to a film sliding over the rock and the pool below stays an ordinary puddle: that is the difference between a good day out and a walk in the woods. And do not head straight for the waterfall: stop at the pools along the way, which are shallower, warmer and almost always empty. If you bring a sandwich, the clearing in front of the fall is the place to eat it, because it is the only open ground on the whole route.