Israel National Trail Part 1: Eilat to Mitzpe Ramon through the desert
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 158.75 mi
- Elevation gain
- 18,806 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Difficult
- Elevation loss
- 16,033 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,835 ft
- TrailRank
-
63
5
- Min elevation
- -48 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Coordinates
- 5843
- Uploaded
- March 26, 2020
- Recorded
- January 2010
near Taba, South Sinai (Egypt)
Viewed 2735 times, downloaded 64 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
If you are thinking of walking the Israel National Trail please buy the guidebook ("Israel National Trail: Hike the land of Israel" available from amazon.co.uk). With detailed maps it assists navigation and gives the background on sights you pass, without which you will miss the significance of some heap of stones. More importantly it references essential practical information, such as details of how to obtain water and where you can buy groceries.
Waypoints
Waypoint
683 ft
Barak canyon
This is a narrow canyon with ladders and metal rungs to climb down. Along the bottom of the canyon there are pits which may be full of water. An exciting part of the route!
Campsite
253 ft
Barak Night Camp
Night camps are places you can camp in the desert, elsewhere, being mostly Nature Reserve, camping is not allowed. Apart from a sign and some stones there is not usually much at these campsites. Barak Night camp was particularly bare.
Provisioning
360 ft
Be'er Ora Grocery store
The first grocery store north of Eilat is at Be'er Ora, a clean and tidy commuter village where there is also some low cost accommodation.
Campsite
1,436 ft
Be'erot Khan campsite
Be'erot Khan campsite is a National Parks Service site with showers, toilets, Bedouin style tents (or use your own) and a shop selling coffee, coke and ice creams.
Campsite
1,587 ft
Camel riders khan
At the Camel Riders Khan you can camp or sleep in a Bedouin style tent. Meals are available. Toilet and showers are basic.
Waypoint
573 ft
Gishron stream
Nahal Gishron is the first canyon you reach coming from Eilat (after a few mountains). The rocks are beautiful and there is a ladder and rocks to climb.
Waypoint
2,849 ft
Ilan Ramon Visitors' Centre at Mitzpe Ramon
Mitzpe Ramon is a town that stands on the edge of a high cliff with great views from the promenade. There is a visitor centre as well as various accommodation options, cafes and a supermarket.
Waypoint
1,419 ft
Kasui sand dunes
The Negev is a stony, rocky desert. These "sand dunes" get a big billing but they are just some sand piled up against a rocky hill.
Provisioning
636 ft
King Solomon Khan
The Timna park has a vegetarian restaurant, camping site, artificial lake and some nearby sites, these include Hathor's temple, where Egyptian copper miners worshipped.
Archaeological site
138 ft
Moah ruins
These are the ruins of a 2000 year old fortress and khan on the incense route between the Yemen and the Mediterranean coast. Taxes were applied to the spice and incense that passed through. When I visited Archaeologists from Haifa University were sifting through a Roman era rubbish tip.
Summit
1,457 ft
Mount Timna
It is a steep climb up and steep climb down with a plateau on the top where hard dolomite has resisted erosion. The Timna Park visitors centre is at the base of the mountain on the north side.
Waypoint
1,118 ft
Nahal Raham
This is a wadi with a couple of dry waterfalls. In one you climb down what is almost a tunnel (see photos). Eventually the wadi widens out as you reach Raham-Etek night camp, where there is a tank of water to refill your supplies.
Provisioning
1,310 ft
Neot Smadar
Neot Smadar is a kibbutz with guest rooms where you can stay. The kibbutz has artistic aspirations with an unusually decorated water cooling tower. Nearby at the road junction there is a restaurant run by the kibbutz where you can buy soup etc..
Campsite
574 ft
Shehoret Night Camp
This was my first night camp walking from Eilat. There is very little at these night camps other than a sign and some stones.
Waypoint
26 ft
Start of Israel National Trail
This is where I started the Israel National Trail, which is where it leaves the Eilat - Taba road. Maybe the official start is in the Field Study centre nearby.
Waypoint
668 ft
Vardit canyon
A narrow canyon with pits in its floor and ladders to climb out of the canyon where it ends. Some of these are filled with water making deep pools. I decided to avoid the risk of crossing such a pool and took the bypass route, which itself required a certain confidence for walking above steep drops.
Campsite
556 ft
Wadi Mangan Campground
Mangan nightcamp has a sign and some stones, plus a few acacia trees.
Provisioning
-3 ft
Zofar Grocery shop
Zofar is a Moshav that has a small supermarket and some accommodation options (I stayed at the "Art house"). Do not believe Google maps, there are no cafes or restaurants in the settlement.
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awesome trail!! Good on ya