Ein Avdat National Park
Ein Avdat is a spectacularly beautiful national park with a deep, narrow canyon, desert spring, rich desert foliage, and easy hiking. It is one of three springs in the riverbed of the Sin Valley. There is interesting desert flora and fauna within the park.
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Time: About 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes for the lower trail there and back. The upper trail is about 2-2½ hours.
Distance: The lower trail is about 800 meter each way. The upper trail is about 3½ km.
Type of hike: Same way there and back for the lower trail. The upper trail is only one way and you need to have transport waiting for you at the upper parking lot
Difficulty: This is easy hiking. The trails are easy with mainly sandy footpaths and sometimes on bare rock. There are multiple steps to the upper 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. One pays at the park entrance and then descends to the bottom of the valley. Entrance to the parking lot is with your ticket. 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.
The park is located within Nahal Sin, which drains toward the Aravah Valley. The nahal or wadi is framed by tall cliffs that are a mixture of white chalk and yellowish limestone, with occasional lines of black flintstone.
Within the nahal are three springs and these feed small pools and waterfalls. These springs emerge from permeable chalk layers and from 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 beyond the poplar grove. The canyon is at the edge of the Avdat Plateau, an elevated limestone desert plain, on the far side from Sde Boker. From the Ben-Gurion Tombs in Sde Boker, which are just north of the park, you can see part of the Sin Valley, as well as the nahal.
You may well see ibex perched on the cliffs. The Nubian ibex is a wild-goat species found in Israel’s deserts and mountain-cliffs — in the Negev Highlands, Judean Desert, and Eilat mountains. There may be about 2,000 or so in Israel. With its cliffs, natural springs, and relatively rich vegetation, Ein Avdat is a favored location, and about half the ibex in the country may be found here. They are often seen on cliffs, since these offer protection from predators that cannot reach them. The males are larger than females and have long horns that are thick at the base and strongly curve backwards, while the female horns are shorter, slimmer and more upright with only a gentle backward curve. You may also see vultures that breed here.
By the side of the trail are tamarisk trees (eshel) and bushes of White Broom (Retama raetam) (rotem hamidbar), a pale green, leafless-looking shrub, and Shrubby Saltbush (Atriplex halimus and Atriplex leucoclada) (maluh kipe’ah), grey-looking shrubs with soft, oval leaves.
On the left of the trail in a clearing is an old Atlantic Pistachio (ela etlantica). It is not usually found in the desert, but began its growth here at a time when there was more water in the nahal.
THE TRAIL:
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From the parking lot, continue along the trail until you come to a dam. Cross the dam and continue on the bare rock along the side of the pool until you come to an impressive waterfall with a large pool at its base. Swimming in the pool is not permitted. You can return at this point to your starting point or take the trail to above the waterfall.
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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.
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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 part of the trail 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.
WHITE BROOM
The White Broom or in Hebrew "Rotem hamidbar" (רותם המדבר) is a very common 1.5-3.0 meter bush seen in the Negev and Judean Desert, and also in coastal sands. One way it is able to survive the dry conditions of the desert is by its lack of leaves. It has greyish-green flexible and often hanging branches. In late-January and February it flowers with clusters of fragrant white flowers along the branches. These develop into single-seed pods that are eaten by hares when they fall to the ground and are excreted intact in their stool. The prophet Elijah sat under this bush when he fled into the desert in despair from Jezebel (I King 19:4). He was rescued by an angel of God and went to the Mountain of God in Horeb.
Male and female ibex on the cliffs
A vulture checks on passers-by.
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