Hiking in the southern Judean desert: the Judean desert borders in its southern part west of the Dead Sea on the north-eastern part Negev.
background
The Judean Desert lies in the rain shadow southeast of Jerusalem and Hebron, it runs down into the Jordan Valley and borders on the south Negev desert. In spite of the sparse rainfall, the brooks, some of which are water only in the winter months, have deep river valleys ("Nahal") in the Jordan Valley and in the Arava- Dug into the sloping eastern slope where sparse vegetation can survive in summer.
Preparations
The article provides information about the preparations for tours in the Israeli desert regions Hiking in Israel.
Water / food
- On all tours there must be a sufficient Beverage supply be carried. Purchased still or carbonated water in PET bottles is one option, and tea is another. In addition to the well-known drinking bottles, there are also drinking bags with valves that fold up when you drink empty, insulated drinking vessels and - quite popular in Israel - drinking systems with a water supply in a small backpack with a drinking tube with a valve.
- The tap water has drinking water quality in Israel, often leaves a slightly chlorine aftertaste. In the visitor centers of the INPA (the Israeli National Park Administration) there are practically always drinking water points in the sanitary facilities, partly chilled drinking water dispensers where bottles can be filled.
- a rule of thumb for water requirements states
- at the cold days or if most of the route is in the shade, you can count on at least 3 liters of water per person per day
- at cool days in autumn, winter and spring, with 4.5 l of water daily
- at warm days (without extreme heat), add 6 liters per person per day Hardcore walks in the hot summer in the desert, the need is even higher; it's best to avoid the midday heat anyway and leave early in the morning.
- For a half-day tour you can get by with around 2 - 3 liters of drinking water. If you lose a lot of fluids through sweating, you should always think about the associated loss of salt, and you should think about an adequate supply of salt (for example in the form of broth or crackers with salt).
- Catering must also be carried with you, in the sense of "no trace hiking", no waste may be left behind in the desert, which for example attracts wild animals. Fruits, dried fruits, nuts and savory biscuits washed before the start of the tour are good options.
- a little cash is advisable in order to be able to buy an ice cream or a sweet drink at least while waiting for the bus at the end point ...
clothing
- When choosing clothing, find out about the expected temperatures based on the weather forecast.
- Sun protection is a must for all walks in Israel. Especially visitors with fair skin type - without adequate sun protection - will inevitably suffer a severe sunburn, a product with at least one Sun protection factor 30 is recommended.
- to avoid heat build-up ("heat stroke"), it is advisable to to wear a hat. Models with good coverage of the ears and the neck region, which are available in the shops of the National Park Administration, are particularly popular.
- the Footwear should be selected according to the soil conditions on the planned tour. Will be used for most hikes walking boots recommended, for tours on which bodies of water are crossed or without rocky areas, are recommended Trekking sandals.
further equipment
- high quality Hiking maps are offered in the national park shops or on the Internet, these are only labeled in Hebrew, but are very helpful together with an overview map with the colored route markings.
- In the sparsely populated desert regions, a GPS hiking navigation device does a good job. The English-language maps of shvil.net are available, for example, as grid maps for the TwoNav navigation devices (with compass and altimeter) and also for the CompeGPS Land software, which is suitable for smartphones with GPS functionality.
- Marked hiking trails along gorges and cliffs are almost always secured in Israel and provided with climbing aids (ladders or steel steps).
- a small LED flashlight is useful when you want to explore caves or cisterns, binoculars are used to observe birds of prey.
landscape
The Judean Desert is located at the eastern end of the Judean hill country southeast of Jerusalem and Hebron to Arad and borders there on the Negev desert; the annual amount of precipitation here is only 100 mm. Deeply incised river valleys that lie dry in summer (Hebrew Nahal, Arabic wadi) lead in a west-east direction to the Jordan Valley, respectively. down into the Arava Depression.
Flora and fauna
Only at the bottom of the wadis (Nahal) can evergreen bushes and trees (acacias) survive, on birds you can see the tristram star, among other things.
climate
In the arid desert climate, the maximum temperatures are around 12-15 degrees in winter months, around 30-34 ° C on summer days and around 18-20 degrees at night. Rainfall practically only occurs in the winter months, according to the website of the Israel Meteorological Service warnings about the danger of flash floods caused by downpours are published in the canyon-like gorges; If necessary, ask the national park visitor centers about dangers.
getting there
The main road 1 leads from Jerusalem into the Jordan Valley, the Jordan Valley Road 90 in a southerly direction, past the Dead sea, En Gedi and En Bokek continue in the Arava Valley south to in Eilat to end. The 60 (through the Palestinian Authority and therefore not approved for Israeli rental cars) by Jerusalem past Hebron to Beer Sheva through the Judean hill country. Cross connections are the newly developed 31 the north of Beer Sheva from the one coming from the north 40 / Highway 6 going off and past Arad leads down to the Dead Sea.
The main road runs a little further south 25 at Dimona over and then also with a number of curves in the Arava Valley down.
Fees / permits
Access to the protected national park areas in the southern Judean Desert is free (and - as the national park area - only permitted during the daytime).
mobility
The streets with double solid lines on the Shvilnet (hiking) map are to be driven on with the car, those with the solid - dashed line are mostly driven with a car with a little ground clearance and appropriate caution, the double dashed lines (signpost 4x4) stand for gravel roads that can be traversed by four-wheel vehicles with large ground clearance (but are easy to ride on mountain bikes). In the entire nature reserve, only appropriately marked slopes may be used, it is forbidden to drive over the edges of the slopes marked with boulders into the terrain.
Simple, dashed routes can be hiked on foot; Prohibition signs for bicycles indicate that the route by bike is usually impassable in reality.
Routes
Round trip to the Peres Potholes, 4.8 km
From the hiking car park on the main road 25 you can do a round trip to the Peres Potholes, which takes about 1½ - 2 hours depending on the walking pace.
- in the immediate vicinity of the 1 Parking lot The red and white marked path descends relatively steeply into a Nahal, after a while it turns right 2 black and white marked path into Nahal Tahmas, on which one comes back on the way back.
- the red and white marked route now crosses the blue and white marked route (the one a little further north of the road 25 leaves), turns a few meters to the left and shortens the red and white marked path over a 3 saddle the curve of the slope that goes around the hill.
- You continue on the slope, which is now marked in red and white, until you reach a striking one 4 tree a green and white marked slope goes off to the left.
- After a few meters, the red and white marked slope runs up to the left to the Tzorim Fortress. Here, on the right-hand side of a cliff, you have a view of the deeply cut gorge from above Nahal Perez. Deep in the limestone the brook has round depressions, so-called 5 "Potholes" buried (similar to the glacier mills known from the Alps).
- a green and white marked path now runs along the cliff and then winds in a steep zigzag down to the bottom of the Nahal Peres. The 6 crossing should not be missed, here the green and white marked route runs south in the Nahal (via Peres Ascent past the Mazal Fortress to HaArava Junction between the streets 90 and 25).
- To complete the round trip, turn sharply to the right / in a westerly direction at the intersection (this junction with the sparse waymarks can easily be missed) and follow the path marked in black and white in a westerly direction towards the one that joins here 7 River valley Nahal Tahmas.
- The black and white marked path runs in the bottom of the Nahal and runs past some acacia trees, over rocky ridges and a canyon-like rock wall back to the intersection with the red and white path that you have already passed on the way there.
- From here, the 600 m long ascent to the starting point can be mastered on the same path.
an alternative:
- from the Peres Potholes you turn to the southeast on the green and white marked route in Nahal Peres. At the intersection with the black and white route, you do not leave the green and white route and pass the route that has dried out in summer 8 Peres Waterfall to the descent of the 9 Peres Ascent.
- the path passes near the 10 Mazal Fortress to 1 HaArava Junction. From here, or the gas station on the street 90 you can try to hitchhike back to the starting point. During the week of the festival, a shuttle bus organized by the PNPA sometimes runs here
to Mount Sodom (1.5 km) / from the north (2.9 km)
Mount Sodom, named after the biblical city of Sodom (but the city was not here on the ridge ...) is a mountain range that extends to the west of the lowest part of the Dead sea is located. From the -174 m high summit, cliffs drop steeply to the bluish shimmering salt pans of the Dead Sea.
Mount Sodom can be reached in several ways:
- a steep ascent (with black and white markings) leads to 1.5 km from the 11 parking spot on the road running along the lowest part of the Dead Sea 90 directly on the 12 Mountain peaks.
- an alternative is access from further north on the road 90 lying 13 Parking lot at the rock formation "Lot's Wife" (Lot's wife).
- The path (initially blue and white marking, after reaching the hill red and white) bypasses the steepest cliffs in the north and 14 reaches the black and white marked access road to the summit in an arc.
There is another possibility for lazy and well motorized hikers:
- at the factory of the Dead Sea Works A well-drivable red and white marked slope leads to the Amiaz Plain (Amiaz level), at the first 15 At the intersection, drive straight ahead on the blue-white slope through the pot-flat level and turn at the next 16 Crossing to the east on the black and white marked ascent to Mount Sodom. The slope with quite a bump in the ground and some potholes can be driven by vehicles with sufficient ground clearance, even without four-wheel drive, after reaching the 17 At the top of the mountain range, you can even continue quite comfortably without any significant inclines and can be very close to the Summit of Mount Sodom park.
Nahal Perazim (Flour Cave) (6.8 km)
The Nahal Perazim is a canyon-like gorge that is well-known and popular due to the bizarre folded stone formations, which extends deep into the practically shallow Amiaz Plain (Amiaz Plain) west of the mountain range of Mount Sodom is incised.
- the 2 The access begins on the street 90 near the industrial facilities of the Dead Sea Works at the southernmost end of the Dead Sea. The gravel road is easily accessible with normal passenger cars. It winds in a few bends on the high plateau of the Amiaz Plain. After reaching the hill, stay on the one leading to the left 3 The red and white marked piste and then, staying on the red and white piste, turns onto the next one 4 Crossing to the right / north. On a gravelled, shadowless one 5 Parking lot you can park your vehicle.
- just behind an information board, the path climbs up Nahal Perazim (Peratzim, Pratzim). On the first stretch of the red and white marked route, the canyon quickly becomes narrower on the steep ones 18 Walls, the patterns created by folding through lighter and darker layers of sediment are worth seeing.
- the narrow canyon winds between steep walls with bizarre rock formations, after 500 meters to the right there is a steep one 19 Ascent Marked with green and white marks, you can leave the canyon here and walk back to the starting point on a slope on the plain. But there are also spectacular sections of the Nahal Perazim at the junction.
- After a total of a good kilometer, the access to the 20 Flour Cave or HaKemakh. The Access The cave has been in danger of collapsing for several years prohibited. The crevice winds several hundred meters horizontally in the rocks, due to the slightly curved course, without a powerful flashlight, the daylight can no longer be seen after a few tens of meters.
- in the further course the canyon widens and there are spectacular views of side canyons, the bottom of the canyon becomes wide enough for a gravel road that can be driven from the north. After a total of 2.5 km one arrives at one 21 Crossing, the red and white marked slope leads north. On the green and white marked, partly asphalted piste, which was probably created when the water pipeline was built, you gain altitude very quickly and reach the flat plain (and you could almost see the starting point of the hike in the distance).
- on the 22 green and white slope, at the next crossroads continue on the black and white slope, after 4 km you will reach the starting point again.
- Due to the extreme heat of the day, however, it makes sense to weigh up whether you want to hike back on the dusty slope or take the picturesque path through the canyon for the way back.
shop
- In the petrol station shops, drinks, snacks and ice cream are usually also available on Shabbat. In En Gedi There is a not easy to find but well-stocked supermarket in the kibbutz, otherwise the best shopping opportunities can be found in the desert city with supermarkets Arad and also in Dimona.
kitchen
Restaurants can be found in Arad, the highest snack bars at the petrol stations.
accommodation
In the Judean desert, overnight stays are rare En Gedi the kibbutz and the SPNI field school are worth mentioning (see local article), in En Bokek expensive hotels for bathers at the Dead Sea, overnight stays in Arad, the city built on the heights is cooler and less stuffy than the immediate vicinity of the Dead Sea.
security
In terms of crime, the security situation is harmless, thefts and vehicle break-ins hardly ever occur in the hiking areas in the desert region (at most in the parking lots with a high number of visitors, if valuables are clearly presented in the car ...).
Danger mainly arises from natural threats in the desert: above all there is danger from the glowing heat of the sun on summer days with only minimal shade supply (heat stroke, lack of drinking water), storm surges as a result of very rare but occasionally massive rains in the desert, which the rivulets in the Being able to swell wadis into rapid brooks - consult weather forecasts and rain radar if the forecast is appropriate (winter months).
On the marked hiking trails, some of which are secured with iron steps, ladders or railings in difficult places, the risk of falling is low, but in many places you can suddenly stand on a cliff over an abyss - small children are definitely not allowed to frolic unsupervised.
trips
- Great opportunities for hikes in the desert area also arise in the areas of the large and especially the small Makhtesh, which is best accessible from the east.
- Hikes in Nahal David and Nahal Arugot in En Gedi; Visit to the fortress Masada
- Swimming stops at the Dead Sea, at En Gedi or En Bokek, both with a public beach
Literature / maps
- Hiking maps and also normal topographic maps on a scale of 1: 25,000 (only certain regions) or 1: 50,000 are here at Survey of Israel available.
