The Golan Hiking Trail is a beautiful hiking trail through the Golan Heights. Covering a total of 125km of trails, the hike begins at Mount Hermon, Israel’s tallest mountain, heading down through the hills to the Sea of Galilee, the lowest freshwater lake in the world! The full hike of the Golan Trail takes about a week, although many people come just for a day or a weekend and hike it in sections. The Golan Trail is undoubtedly one of Israel’s most beautiful hiking trails.
Starting from the far north of the Golan Heights, close to Mount Hermon, Israel’s tallest mountain which in the winter months is the country’s only ski resort (and in summer months popular with hikers and bikers), the trail heads south and towards the Sea of Galilee passing through pretty kibbutzim, villages belonging to the Druze community, and some of Israel’s most beautiful nature reserves and parks including Gamla before ending near the Sea of Galilee. The trail contains beautiful panoramas across into both Israel and Syria, and is full of stunning nature and wildlife.
The Golan Trail is designed to be hiked over the course of one week and ends at the end of each day near to a place for hikers to purchase supplies.
Hiking the Golan Trail
The Golan Trail is a well marked trail (white, blue and green mark the trail), however, because much of the Golan is a militarized zone and there are still minefields in some areas, a map is essential.
The trail is graded as moderate difficulty if hiked from north to south (from Hermon to the Sea of Galilee). Hiking in the opposite direction will entail a totally uphill climb.
There is limited accommodation available at the end of each day’s hiking, so it is recommended that you camp between days.
Below is a map of the trail, for further information about hiking the Golan Trail, see www.golantrail.com.
For those who would prefer to embark upon this trail with a tour guide or logistical support, click here for further information
