Colored Sands, Big Crater (HaMakhtesh HaGadol)

In Big Crater, you can find colored sands. It is where kids can fill bottles and also starting point for trails.

Map

Colored Sands is about twelve km from Yeruham, inside HaMakhtesh HaGadol (Makhtesh Yeruham). And while driving from Yeruham on road #225, you will see a sign pointing to the left.

If you are driving from Yeruham, consider stopping at Mount Avnon Lookout.

Directions for drivers: Link to Waze and Link to Google Maps
Directions for public transport: Link to Moovit

Interactive map of the area:

And here is a photo of a map of the HaMakhtesh HaGadol:

You can see the colored sands to the right of the map.

Opening Hours

Always open. But keep in mind there are no artificial lights.

Entrance Fee

Free.

Parking

As you exit road #225, you will see large and free parking.

What can you find at Colored Sands?

At colored sands, you can find parking, picnic tables, and of course, colored sands. Moreover, this can be the starting point for the hikes to the small fin or the big fin (ridges that received the name due to the similarity to a fish fin).

Note: if you are interested in how the big crater was created, read Makhtesh Ramon Visitors Center. Makhtesh Ramon, the big crater, and the small crater are all erosion craters.

At Colored Sands

Tip: when visiting with kids, bring small transparent bottles. Then children can fill the vessels with layers of different colored sand.

We had a small bottle, and my daughters were busy for an hour.

The original plan was to hike to the small fin, but as I learned the hard way, there is no cellular reception. I could not get a signal even when I climbed to the top of one hill. Thus, bring paper maps if you want to hike in the area.

Here are additional photos of the colored sands:

Summary

Colored Sands in the Big Crater is a lovely place, and I recommend stopping there. And if you visit with kids, do not forget to bring a transparent container. Moreover, you can make a picnic or start hiking from this point.

This area has many attractions, and you can explore them using the interactive map above. And also, check out the post about HaMakhtesh HaGadol.

Have you visited Colored Sands in Big Crater? Tell us in the comment below about your experience.

That’s all for today, and I’ll see you in future travels!

Stay Tuned!

   

Additional Resources

Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:

• Israel Trip Planner is the page that will help you to create your perfect travel route.
• National Parks And Nature Reserves page lists and put all national parks on the map. There is also a top list, information about ticket types and campsites.
• If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, and Makhtesh Ramon.
• Wondering what events are there in Israel? Here is the Events And Festivals By Season guide.

And if you have any questions then check out Useful Information For Tourists To Israel.