Experience the great Judean desert in this short but non-the-less spectacular river hike. David River (Nahal David) is in the northern branch of the reserve of Ein Gedi. The river is about 11km long and starts high up the Judean plateau and is a moderate slope so it’s an easy walk for everyone to enjoy! .  The springs are located in a lower part of the river  and the river ends merging with Arugot River forming a delta of 2-3km to the shores of the Dead Sea.

There are a few routes to hike Nahal David, but the easiest enables you to cover the most spectacular part in less than a 20 minute walk.  If you’re lucky you might be able to see an Ibex or Hyrax.  The Hyrax is a small mammal that looks like a bunny with short ears and an Ibex is a kind of  mountain goat.   You will reach the the first pools after only a short stroll, with fresh running water, where visitors are welcome to dip. The path crosses the stream a few times and mild stairs lead to further pools – each one embraced with reeds, and other water plants, and enables a cool shower under natural waterfalls. Dragonflies fly around and in the shallow water Tadpoles and Crabs can be spotted. More than 20 species of different plants that can be seen, such as the Tamarisk tree, palm trees, figs, capparis, calotropis procera (aka – The apple of Sodom) and many others.  

This is a “must-do” on you next trip to Israel but try to do early in the day before to gets too hot, it is the desert after all! 

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