Wadi Naqab - Wadi Koub - Al Sanat Village
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 4.53 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,526 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 2,526 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,027 ft
- TrailRank
-
87
5
- Min elevation
- 676 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- 2 hours 30 minutes
- Time
- 4 hours 21 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1295
- Uploaded
- February 27, 2022
- Recorded
- February 2022
near Yinas, Raʼs al Khaymah (United Arab Emirates)
Viewed 7596 times, downloaded 347 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Wadi Naqab - Wadi Koub - Al Sanat Village
Wadi Naqab, is indeed a wonderful place from which you can have a number of hikes heading to different villages. What we did here is passing through the Red wall, heading to Wadi Koub and eventually climbing up to the Al Sanat village.
Wadi Koub is the highlight of this trail.. I would say this is the most beautiful place i have seen in Ras Al Khaimah..
The trail we started is from the actual starting point of Naqab trail which is accessible with 4 x 4 cars only. However you can also come with sedan cars and park 2-3km before this point (these kms you have to walk additionally) Both locations coordinates are given below the description.
The wadi is full of big rocks when you start the trail, but you can pass through them and after the first km, you can bypass them (Way Point-2) with the balcony walk.. There is trail marks done by Hazza Fazza and his team (as you can see in the pictures). At 1.5th km you will reach the Red wall point (Photo-3)
After 2km, you will reach the fork where you have to keep left (Intersection-1) which is heading towards Wadi Koub. The next km is the Koub area, with a number of pools (most of them are dry) and polished rocky surface. Bypassing the pools will be tricky once they are filled with water after the rain.
After 3km, you have to climb up in order to reach the Al Sanat village, but before that we went further left just to explore the wadi a bit more (Way Point-6) This is optional, you can skip it and proceed to Way Point-7 to climb to the village.
At Way Point-7 you can see the stairs, with a rope for support, once you climb then immediately turn left and walk through the edge.. you will find another stairs then on the right side.. And then through the scree slope, you have to climb all the way up to the village. This is the toughest part of the entire hike with sudden elevation gain.
After the climb finally you will reach the village which is located at the top (618m)
Going down from the village will be through the opposite side (Way Point-12). There is path to descend (Way Point-13) but some areas are having loose rocks as well.. Eventually you will reach the fork where you took left to the wadi koub (Way Point-14). From here onwards it is the the same way you came in.
It was a nice and thrilling hike due to the ascend and descent to the village.
GPS errors are very common in this area, even if you follow my same trail you may end up having way more / less kilometers in your watch / GPS device..
If you have followed this trail and done your hike, please leave a comment and update so that it will be informative and useful for the other hikers.
Points to note:
- Mobile network is not available when you go deep inside, but available in the village.
- Passing the wadi koub pools will be tricky when they are filled with water after the rain
- Hike starting point is only accessible with 4 x 4 cars. however sedan can come 2-3km before this point. Again this depends on the condition of the road after rain so please check the comments for latest updates..
- Keep enough water / electrolytes etc. according to the climate
- NO LITTERING PLEASE
Location : Wadi Naqab - Ras Al Khaima
Parking : 25.721285, 56.124709 (4 x 4 cars) / 25.714996, 56.106097 (Sedan cars)
Difficulty : Moderate
Highlight : Wadi Naqab, Red Wall, Wadi Koub, Al Sanat Village
Note the waypoints and read their description. Please reach out for any other info / clarifications
General info: Install NA998 app for national ambulance Incase we are calling 998 the app can automatically share the location.
Save this number 800424 Poison center of UAE in case of snake bite.
Wadi Naqab, is indeed a wonderful place from which you can have a number of hikes heading to different villages. What we did here is passing through the Red wall, heading to Wadi Koub and eventually climbing up to the Al Sanat village.
Wadi Koub is the highlight of this trail.. I would say this is the most beautiful place i have seen in Ras Al Khaimah..
The trail we started is from the actual starting point of Naqab trail which is accessible with 4 x 4 cars only. However you can also come with sedan cars and park 2-3km before this point (these kms you have to walk additionally) Both locations coordinates are given below the description.
The wadi is full of big rocks when you start the trail, but you can pass through them and after the first km, you can bypass them (Way Point-2) with the balcony walk.. There is trail marks done by Hazza Fazza and his team (as you can see in the pictures). At 1.5th km you will reach the Red wall point (Photo-3)
After 2km, you will reach the fork where you have to keep left (Intersection-1) which is heading towards Wadi Koub. The next km is the Koub area, with a number of pools (most of them are dry) and polished rocky surface. Bypassing the pools will be tricky once they are filled with water after the rain.
After 3km, you have to climb up in order to reach the Al Sanat village, but before that we went further left just to explore the wadi a bit more (Way Point-6) This is optional, you can skip it and proceed to Way Point-7 to climb to the village.
At Way Point-7 you can see the stairs, with a rope for support, once you climb then immediately turn left and walk through the edge.. you will find another stairs then on the right side.. And then through the scree slope, you have to climb all the way up to the village. This is the toughest part of the entire hike with sudden elevation gain.
After the climb finally you will reach the village which is located at the top (618m)
Going down from the village will be through the opposite side (Way Point-12). There is path to descend (Way Point-13) but some areas are having loose rocks as well.. Eventually you will reach the fork where you took left to the wadi koub (Way Point-14). From here onwards it is the the same way you came in.
It was a nice and thrilling hike due to the ascend and descent to the village.
GPS errors are very common in this area, even if you follow my same trail you may end up having way more / less kilometers in your watch / GPS device..
If you have followed this trail and done your hike, please leave a comment and update so that it will be informative and useful for the other hikers.
Points to note:
- Mobile network is not available when you go deep inside, but available in the village.
- Passing the wadi koub pools will be tricky when they are filled with water after the rain
- Hike starting point is only accessible with 4 x 4 cars. however sedan can come 2-3km before this point. Again this depends on the condition of the road after rain so please check the comments for latest updates..
- Keep enough water / electrolytes etc. according to the climate
- NO LITTERING PLEASE
Location : Wadi Naqab - Ras Al Khaima
Parking : 25.721285, 56.124709 (4 x 4 cars) / 25.714996, 56.106097 (Sedan cars)
Difficulty : Moderate
Highlight : Wadi Naqab, Red Wall, Wadi Koub, Al Sanat Village
Note the waypoints and read their description. Please reach out for any other info / clarifications
General info: Install NA998 app for national ambulance Incase we are calling 998 the app can automatically share the location.
Save this number 800424 Poison center of UAE in case of snake bite.
Waypoints
Photo
Intersection
Waypoint
1,255 ft
Way Point - 6
We went further left to explore.. This is optional.. you can skip it and proceed to Way Point - 7
Summit
Comments (28)
You can add a comment or review this trail
Your reviews are always spectacular, mate. Thank you.
Is this 7.7 kilometres one way or return?
Hello Mark..
Thanks for the comment..
The trail distance mentioned above is total duration (up and down)
But I had some GPS jumping errors (especially while descending from the summit) so expect total distance somewhere 9 - 10km overall..
Thanks man. 9-10 kilometres is perfect.
Keep in mind that the trail starting point is reachable by SUV only.. If you have sedan car then consider the extra walking distance as mentioned in the description..
Hello, last time I tried to do this hike. It sent me to a wrong starting point. Cna I ask you for the locstion?
Hi Haya,
The parking coordinates are already provided in the description for both sedan cars and SUV cars.. However you may find again below:
25.721285, 56.124709 (4 x 4 cars)
25.714996, 56.106097 (Sedan cars)
Update : the road has been distroyed by water, no car can reach the starting point. Add 30-45 min time as you need to walk till the start point.
Obviously due to that we couldn't reach the village, not enough day light left for return. We passed the pools (full of water), climbed the wall with rope than we didn't know which way to go and way to go(no marks)
Question: which way you go after climbing the wall? How long is left till the village?
I have followed this trail verified View more
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Followed this trail, We have done till Wadi Koub water fall and retuned the same way.
Hi, Any update about to road conditions?
I tried to hike to the village today. Unfortunately, we wouldn't get past way point 7. We used the rope to climb up, but unfortunately it stopped at the top of the 'staircase
We couldn't figure out which way to go after the staircase, it all seemed to hard without the ropes for help. However, the hike through the wadis is absolutely stunning
Hi @Miss Guided,
That's a tricky area, as soon as you climb the stairs you need to go left through the edge.. then you will find another stairs which will take you further up.. and then full ascend through the slop.. Since there are no proper markings, its bit hard to find the way even if you have wikiloc..
Hi @Tanare,
As per the latest information, you can drive with 4x4 cars 2km before my starting point as the road is now damaged.. so add 2 2 both ways 4 km total in addition to my trail length..
If you have normal car, it will be about 3km (one way)..
Thanks for your detailed description of the trail. Very useful.
Lovely hike, bit of scramble up and down but lovely
🫶✌️
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This trail is so informative and easy to follow. We hiked all the way to Sanat Village and did the full loop using the details provided. Thank you for putting an effort to share this trail to your fellow hikers. Appreciate! 👍🏻
I have followed this trail View more
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Wadi Naqab is truly the most beautiful wadi I've ever been to, and I'm grateful to Muhasin for sharing this trail. Thank you for your effort in providing a detailed and very easy to follow guide!
🙌🏻🤸🏻♀️⛰️
Is there any spot for camping with shadow?
Hi seyed, you can go to yanas mountain which is nearby.. also there are many spots you can chose on the way to trailhead..
Thank you very much Muhasin
Can I just check that the information below means that the walk is actually nearer 12ish km now and not 7 because of this ?
As per the latest information, you can drive with 4x4 cars 2km before my starting point as the road is now damaged.. so add 2 2 both ways 4 km total in addition to my trail length..
Hi @Hwakelin92,
Yes, the hike will be 12-13km as per the current road condition
I have done this trail but I got injured so please be careful while climbing on the rock
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Beautiful and challenging trail!
Thank you Muhasin for providing such a detailed and accurate guide, it helped us a lot during the hike.
Hi @iwonawo,
Many thanks for your comment and review... glad to hear that you found my trail useful..
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Done hiking on 18/02/2024 ,any suv (no need of 4×4) can reach till wadi naqab cave (hiking starting point).Excellent hiking Koub to Till Sanat village and way back you need extra attention to find the exact wrong turn might end up with extra hours of wililock wisely.
Hi Ditto,
Thanks for the review and updates.. Appreciate 👏🏼
Great hike, but I would strongly advise to skip village at the top. Too much physical effort to climb such steep mountain for one house. Stick to the left once reach the fork and then walk to the dead end, where you can see only water and then walk back. Trust me, you will thank me later 😉
Add eight kilometer in total from the car to start point of the trail and back to the car parking