The Makhtesh Hagadol from the lookout of Har Avnon
Har Avnon is a lookout over an impressive makhtesh called Makhtesh Hagadol or the Hatira crater. More recently, there have been attempts to call it the Machtesh Yerucham.
There are three “craters” in this part of the Negev – the Makhtesh Hagadol, the Machtesh Hakaton or Hatzera Crater, and the Makhtesh Ramon near Mitzpe Rimon. The Makhtesh Hagadol measures approximately 10 km by 5 km and is the second largest makhtesh. The largest and most impressive is Makhtesh Ramon.
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Craters are formed in three ways – from impact as from a meteor, from a volcanic crater, and as an erosion crater. An erosion crater is called a makhtesh and is not strictly speaking a crater. The Negev is the prime location for this phenomenon.​​​​​​​​
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​Directions: The lookout is approached by a turn off from Route 225. Enter “Har Avnon” into Waze. The approach road is a well-kept gravel road with a fairly steep elevation. From the parking lot it is a 5 minute or so easy walk to the lookout. The lookout area has signs identifying some landmarks. You will see a quarry within the makhtesh for quarrying sandstone for the glass factory in Yerucham.
Public transport: Har Avnon is not easily reached by public transport. The closest bus stop is 4-km/49 minute-walk along the main road from the city of Yerucham and is not recommended.
The four ridges in the Northern Negev
The development of a makhtesh
How did the Makhtesh Hagadol form?
A makhtesh is formed on top of a mountain ridge, in this case the Hatira Ridge, and it allows you to peer into the inside of the mountain!
​Initially, its surface rock was hard sedentary limestone and dolomite (a form of limestone) and underneath this was a softer sandstone that formed in the Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago (a).
The first stage in the development of the makhtesh was a pushing up of the surface rock due to tectonic forces, mostly the Negev anticline system as a result of the separation of the Syrian-African Rift. This occurred about 60 to 80 million years ago and resulted in a broad dome or arch (b). Next was a breaching of the hard rim by water erosion that exploited a weak point in the rim. Through this breach, streams begin to remove the soft sandstone. This occurred about 30 million years ago, leaving the hard outer rim mostly intact (c). From about 5 to 10 million years ago the sandstone continued to be eroded away leaving the classic steep-walled, elongated, closed makhtesh with limestone cliffs, and its exit point facing the dead sea (d). The erosion of the sandstone interior is continuing even to this day. In other makhteshes, the sand may be of varied colors due to its mineral content, and this can be strikingly beautiful, although this is not so much the case in this makhtesh.