Ein Avdat National Park

Ein Avdat is a spectacularly beautiful national park with a deep, narrow canyon, desert springs, attractive desert foliage, and easy hiking.

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Time: About 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes for lower and upper trails

Distance: About 3½ km for lower and upper trails

Type of hike: Same way there and back

Difficulty: This is easy hiking. The trails are easy with mainly sandy footpaths and sometimes on bare rock. There are multiple steps for the upper part of the trail.

Directions: Enter “Ein Avdat National Park” into Waze.

Admission: This is a site of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Summer hours are 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and Saturday, 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. on Friday and holidays, and holiday eves 8.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. Closing in the winter is one hour earlier. Admission for adults is 31 NIS and for children and seniors 16 NIS. There is a shaded picnic area by the parking area with picnic benches and restrooms. Phone numbers are 08 655-5684 and 08 655-4419. This is their website:

Public transport: Enter “Ein Avdat National Park” into Moovit. There are buses from Beersheva. From the closest bus stop it is a 29-minute/ 2.3 km walk.

This park is located within Nahal Tsin, one of the largest wadis (dry riverbeds) in the Negev, and it drains toward the Aravah Valley. The park is surrounded by tall chalk and limestone cliffs. Within the canyon are three springs, which feed small pools and waterfalls. The springs emerge from permeable chalk layers where underground water meets harder rock that forces it to the surface. Ein Mor is by the cashier’s office, Ein Avdat is just after the dam, and Ein Ma’arif is just after the poplar grove. Above the canyon is the Avdat Plateau, an elevated limestone desert plain. From the Ben-Gurion Tombs, which is just north of the park, you can see the entire Tsin canyon.

THE TRAIL:

From the parking lot, continue along the trail until you come to a dam. Cross the dam and continue along this side of the pool until you come to an impressive waterfall with a large pool at its base. There is no swimming in the pool. You can either return at this point to your starting point or take the trail to above the waterfall.

To continue to a higher level, you will see steps on your left shortly after the dam. The steps are not particularly obvious, so look out for them. There are about 120 steps in all. Continue along the stream until you come to a poplar grove and observation area. The openings of caves in the cliff face were used by monks in the Byzantine period.

Groups who have a bus waiting for them at the upper parking lot will be able to climb a ladder and continue on the trail to this parking lot. However, this route is only one-way and cannot be done if your car is at the lower parking lot.

Crossing the dam

PLANTS OF THE DESERT

You will see a lot of tamarisk trees and shrubby saltbush by the sides of the path. Their growing together is not coincidental. It is of interest to see how these plants have adapted to the extreme weather conditions of the desert.

THE TAMARISK TREE

There are 7 varieties of Tamarisk tree in Israel. The most common is the evergreen Tamarix aphylla (אשל הפרקים or eshel haprakim in Hebrew). The trunk is smooth and reddish brown. Most of the tamarisk trees you will see in Israel have been planted, but they do occur naturally, particularly in saline soil such as in the Arava and around the Dead Sea. How does this tree manage to survive and even thrive so successfully in extreme desert conditions? It has a very extensive root system both in width and in depth that reaches down to water. Its leaves are tiny and encircle the top of each node. The stems are able to carry out photosynthesis. The stomata are sunken along the internodes which limits water loss. There are also sweat glands on the branches that secret salt. The salt evaporates onto the leaves and is carried into the soil. This means that the soil around the tree is quite salty, and this inhibits the growth of other plants. An exception is the Shrubby Saltbush.

The eshel tree is mentioned a few times in the Bible. In Genesis "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree In Beersheba, and called there are on the name of God, the everlasting God." (Genesis 21:33). Saul also "sat under the Tamaraix at Ramah." (I Samuel 22:6).

The tree is commonly planted for the same reason as in Biblical times - because it provides shade. Its wood can also be used in construction. It grows very easily. Branches can be put in damp soil and they soon develop roots. This is why these trees are commonly seen in Bedouin villages around Beersheba.

THE SHRUBBY SALTBUSH

The Shrubby Saltbush is a 1 to 2-meter evergreen shrub know in Hebrew as מלוח קיפח (maluach ki'peach). It almost certainly got this name because its leaves are salty. In fact, flocks and their shepherds find its large, semi-succulent leaves quite tasty. In times of famine, they have been gathered as a source of food (Job 30:4). The young leaves can also be used in salads. The leaves have fine hairs on them. The plant is found throughout deserts and in sandy conditions. It is able to survive through its deep root systems in a variety of soil conditions, especially salty soil as is found together with chalk and clay rocks. Its root system provides stability to the soil and helps prevent erosion. The plant is eaten by mammals and insects. Fat sand rats eat its leaves and their burrows are often close to the shrub.

Links to the best family activities, hikes and historic sites in the GOLAN, EASTERN GALILEE, UPPER GALILEE, LOWER GALILEE, JORDAN VALLEY & LAKE KINNERET, the SHEFELAH, TEL AVIV-YAFFO and surroundings, NORTH of TEL AVIV, and SOUTH of TEL AVIV.