Ein Avdat

Ein Avdat National Park – Visitors Guide with Map and Tracks

At Ein Avdat National Park, you can enjoy a stunning hike in the desert. The path goes along the Zin stream inside a deep canyon. The hike lets you appreciate the scenery and the wildlife.

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Note: do not mix this place with Avdat National Park, located within a ten-minute drive. While Ein Avdat National Park offers marvelous nature, at Avdat National Park, you walk through the remains of a Nabatean city. And due to the closeness, combining them can make a lovely half-day trip.

Map

Avdat National Park is located near Sde Boker and Midreshet Ben-Gurion, also known as Midreshet Sde Boker.

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

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Interactive map of the area:

Offers:

  • Hotels, hostels, and apartments in this area:
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Here is the map from the official brochure:

Note: you can click on the map to enlarge it.

Ein means spring in Hebrew, and as you can see from the map, most of the hike will be beside the spring inside the canyon.

Tracks

Here is an interactive map from israelhiking.osm.org.il with the one-directional track marked:

There are two options to hike inside Ein Avdat National Park.

#NameDescriptionDistance (km)Total climb and descent (meters)Approximate Duration (hours)Notes
1The loop route It starts at the lower parking near Ein Mor. And then leads to the last pool and returns to the parking.2.32401.5
2One-directional pathIt begins at the lower parking and goes to the last pool. Instead of returning, climb up along the ladders until you reach the canyon’s top. The Ladder Route is a one-directional route (you cannot go down to the valley from that point).1.32011Completing this trail requires two cars – one at each entrance to the park.

Directions

The preferred way to reach Ein Avdat National Park is by car. An even better option is to visit with friends so that you will have two vehicles (see the ladder track below). And if you drive there, enter “Ein Avdat National Park” into Waze, Google Maps, or another Navigation app.

Reaching this national park by public transport is inconvenient. For example, here are directions from Tel Aviv to Ein Avdat. As you can see, you will need at least three buses and an additional 45-minute hike (3.5 km) to reach the beginning of the track. You can hitchhike, but you cannot be sure you will find a ride. Thus, I would suggest driving there. If you do not have a car, then you can rent one. Here is a link to rentalcars.com, where you can check the prices.

You can click on this Moovit link and set the starting point to get updated public transport directions.

When to Visit Ein Avdat?

This National Park is located in the desert. Therefore I recommend against visiting it in the summer (temperatures can reach above 40 C). Moreover, seeing Ein Avdat and Avdat in one day will be hard. Winter and spring are the best seasons for a visit. And take plenty of water, hats, and sunscreen.

Moreover, do not visit the desert after rain. Floods in the Negev can be dangerous, and unfortunately, there were cases in Israel when people died in desert floods.

Opening Hours

Sunday – Thursday and Saturday: 8:00 – 17:00 (16:00 in winter).
Friday: 8:00 – 16:00 (15:00 in winter).
On holiday eves, usually 8:00 – 13:00.

Note: Since the pandemic, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority has started limiting the number of people in each park. Thus, reservations are recommended through the official site (you can find the link below).

Entrance Fee

Adult – 28 NIS, child – 14 NIS, and student – 24 NIS. And free for National Parks annual subscribers.

If you visit several National Parks, consider purchasing a combo ticket. You can find additional info at the National Parks And Nature Reserves post. Moreover, there is a unique combined ticket for the canyon and the ancient city at the Ein Avdat National Park entrance. Since the cashier offered to purchase it, I know it exists, but I did not find any reference on the official website.

Note: opening hours and ticket prices were updated in February 2022. In any case, recheck the official site before visiting.

Contact Information

Phone: ‎08-6555684, 08-6554418

Ben-Gurion’s Tomb National Park

Before entering Ein Avdat National Park, you will see parking to your left. I suggest making a short break here. At the end of the parking lot, you will see an entrance to Ben-Gurion’s Tomb National Park. There, you can find the burial place of David and Paula, a lovely park, and restrooms. Moreover, you can get great views of the Zin Canyon. Like the following one:

View of Ein Avdat from Ben-Gurion’s Tomb National Park
View of Ein Avdat from Ben-Gurion’s Tomb National Park

For additional info, see Ben-Gurion’s Tomb National Park.

After the break at Ben Gurion Memorial Site, you must return to the car and drive to the Ein Avdat National Park entrance. The entry is at the upper parking, but the trail starts inside the canyon. Thus, after entering, you will be driving down along the road (you can see part of it in the photo below) till you reach the bottom parking inside the canyon.

The road to the lower parking
The road to the lower parking

Ein Mor

In the lower parking, you can find restrooms, and there, the blue trail starts.

Ein Mor
Ein Mor

Note: according to the following sign, you cannot bring pets, food, or light fire in the park. Also, drones are forbidden as well.

Sign at Ein Avdat
Sign at Ein Avdat

Swimming in the pools is not allowed. Moreover, the water is not drinkable. Thus, as I mentioned above, bring plenty of water with you.

Swimming is Not Allowed
Swimming is Not Allowed

And now, let’s start hiking along the blue trail.

The Beginning of Ein Avdat Trail
The Beginning of Ein Avdat Trail

Ein Ovdat Canyon is cut into the Ovdat Heights and exposes the rocks of the heights, the main ones being: chalk, lime, and flint. These rocks were formed in the sea, which covered the region around 50 million years ago. The chalk was formed by the settling of skeletons of microscopic monocellular creatures. The rock is white and soft.

The limestone is formed by settling of lime skeletons of marine creatures. The parts of these creatures and their reconsolidation give the lime its rigidity. Fossils are frequently found in lime rocks. The lime has a white and hard appearance.

Flint – a dark and hard rock. During the prehistoric era, flint was used as a raw material to prepare tools and light fires. As a result of its sharpness, one of the uses of stone is mentioned in the Bible: “And Joshua wrought narrow swords and circumcised the Children of Israel on the Foreskin Hill (Joshua 4, 3).

Source: unless stated otherwise, all quotes were taken from boker.org.il

Rock Formation
Rock Formation

These are the Euphrates poplar trees, which grow next to Ein Mor, a small seasonal spring mostly used by the local vegetation and herds of ibexes.
The poplars which grow in the Negev are a remnant of a wetter climatic period than today. They have only survived near two springs – Ein Shaviv and the two groups in the Ein Ovdat Canyon.

The poplar is a tall tree that grows on riverbanks and can tolerate a certain amount of salinity in the ground. The Euphrates poplar has two foliage types: the younger long leaves and wider, more mature diamond-shaped leaves. That is a deciduous tree that loses its leaves in winter. The leaves have prominent gallnuts, shaped like a white half ball (gallnut means a swelling or growth in the leaf following penetration of a foreign body, such as laid eggs or an insect sting). The poplar gallnuts contain pests that secrete a sweet substance off which the ants inside the tree feed.

At Ein Avdat National Park
At Ein Avdat National Park

And hence we mentioned ibexes, here is an ibex busy eating at Ein Mor.

An Ibex
An Ibex

Ibex

It is well worth looking at the cliffs while walking along the gorge. We might be able to spot ibexes. The ibexes, kings of the cliffs, live near sources of water. There is a large number of ibexes in the Ein Ovdat Canyon. They have a brown hide, a robust and muscular body, and their feet’ structure is ideal for the surroundings.

The ibexes live most of their lives in separate herds – males in one group and females and kids in another. You can clearly distinguish them from each other: the male is large, heavy, and muscular, the back of the neck is well developed, and the horns are large and bent backward. The male’s horns serve as a means to reduce the number of male rivals. The female is smaller with slender, short horns which curve slightly to the rear.

The sexes meet during the mating season – between September-November – and the largest and strongest male in the herd mates with the females after a long courting period. The pregnant female ibex leaves the herd and gives birth in the spring to one or two kids. The ibexes can be spotted early in the morning and in the afternoon. They descend the cliffs to eat and drink near the spring. In the past, the number of ibexes decreased. Today, due to the enforcement of nature preservation laws, the number of ibexes has increased.

Note: if you want additional information about animals and wildlife, check out Zoos and Aquariums in Israel‎.

Ein Avdat
Ein Avdat

Note: if you are visiting with babies and toddlers, you will need a baby carrier or baby carrier backpack.

Ein Avdat Hike
Ein Avdat Hike

Griffon Vulture

If you visit in the winter, you may see griffon vultures nest in the cliffs. They usually nest in the area shown in the photo above, between points #3 and #4 on the map above.

Griffon Vulture
Griffon Vulture

I had a 300mm lens on a full-frame body, which was insufficient. And the photos you can see here are cropped.

Griffon Vulture
Griffon Vulture

The best places to see Griffon Vultures in Israel are Hai-Bar Carmel and Gamla Nature Reserve. For additional info about vultures, see Hai-Bar Carmel.

Ein Avdat Panorama
Ein Avdat Panorama

Ein Avdat Waterfall

After a while, you will see dense vegetation along the blue trail.

Ein Avdat
Ein Avdat

Then, you will see that the trail splits. If you turn to the left, you can see the Ein Avdat waterfall and the lower pools (the next photo).

Ein Avdat Waterfall
Ein Avdat Waterfall

You can get close to the bottom of the waterfall, and then you will have to return to the trail split and turn right.

The path continues up, and there is a section of narrow stairs.

Stairs
Stairs

After climbing the stairs, you will see the waterfall from above.

Ein Avdat Waterfall
Ein Avdat Waterfall

The waterfall is 15 meters high, and there is a large 8-meter deep pool at the base of the waterfall. Bathing in the pool is prohibited!

The spring is active all year round, although the flow varies through the seasons. The salinity of the water also changes. The springs area attracts many animals: insects, songbirds, rock doves, birds of prey, and ibexes.

Eagles sometimes use the canyon cliffs as nesting spots. Other birds of prey can also be seen, including vultures, hawks, bustards, etc. There are rising airflows near the cliff’s edge, and the birds of prey use these to climb. Near here, there are nesting places of rock doves and swifts. The area is used by passing waterfowl, such as coots and landfowl like partridges and herons, a wide variety of rodents, dragonflies, etc.

Ein Ovdat is a stratum spring – some of the rainwater which descends from the heights seeps through the fissures in the horizontal strata of the chalk, lime, and flint until they reach an impervious layer. Water flows along with this stratum like groundwater. The water breaks through as a spring in places where the stratum is exposed due to erosion by the river.

At the top of Ein Avdat Waterfall
At the top of Ein Avdat Waterfall

Here is a series of images from the following section of the track:

Here we are reaching the last section of the trail.

Ein Avdat
Ein Avdat

After visiting it, you can either return to Ein Mor parking or continue to the ladder route (if you have a second car waiting at the “back” parking).

The Ladder Track

Here is a closeup of the ladder trail:

The Ladder Track
The Ladder Track

You can see the fence near the top viewpoint, and on the right, you can see the track, including the metal ladder.

We are starting the climb.

The Ladder Trail
The Ladder Trail

There is a giant bell-shaped cave at the end of the steps, which contains numerous nesting places used by rock doves. At the end of the route, we can catch a bird’s eye view of Ein Ovdat before turning towards the poplar grove.

The Euphrates Poplar trees will already be familiar to us from the route’s starting point, next to Ein Mor. The path starts to climb from here, leading to quarried steps and two iron ladders.

We will climb the quarried steps and see a narrow path pointing to the north before the first ladder. We can follow this path, which leads to one of the caves cut out of the cliffside. These caves were formed to serve as isolation chambers for Byzantine monks. One of the caves contains a Greek inscription that addresses Theodoros, who was known as the patron of the city of Ovdat, which is located around three kilometers south of this point.

And here is the last part of the route from above:

The Ladder Trail
The Ladder Trail

As you can see, though there are several ladders, the trail is not that hard, and older children can comfortably make it.

Common Questions

Is Swimming at Ein Avdat Allowed?

As mentioned above, swimming in the pools is not allowed, and the water is not suitable for drinking.

How to get from Jerusalem to Ein Avdat?

First, you need to get to Jerusalem’s central bus station. Then take bus #470 – from Jerusalem to Beer Sheva. And from Beer Sheva, you take bus #60 towards Mitzpe Ramon. Then you get off bus #60 at Ben Gurion College and walk the rest of the way. For additional details, see the directions section above.

How is the weather at Ein Avdat?

Shortly, it is boiling in the summer. Moreover, after rain, there is a danger of floods. Therefore, spring is the best time for a visit. See the “When To Visit?” section above for additional details.

How to Get From Ein Avdat to Avdat?

It is a ten-minute drive along road #40 south if you have a car.
If you do not have a car, then getting around is problematic. You can find the complete answer in Avdat.

Are there additional attractions in this area?

Avdat national park is the closest one. Besides, there is Ramon Crater. You can find my complete guide at Mitzpe Ramon And Makhtesh Ramon. There is also Mamshit National Park. Moreover, you can browse the map at the beginning of this post.

Summary

The loop trail at Ein Avdat National Park is about two kilometers long. And since most of the terrain is on level ground, you can make it quite quickly. But if you make stops to enjoy nature and take photos, completing the trail can take up to several hours.

When thinking about the desert, this is not what comes to mind. And in my opinion, this is one of the most spectacular trails in Israel. Therefore I included it in my top ten National Parks And Nature Reserves in Israel.

If you are looking for a half-day trip in the desert, visiting Ben-Gurion’s Tomb National Park, Ein Avdat, and Avdat National Park can be perfect. The combination of nature, archeology, and history make the tour exciting and versatile. And the closeness makes it comfortable to travel.

Have you ever been to Ein Avdat National Park? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

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:  
Are you looking for additional information? Leave a comment below, and I will do my best to answer your questions.

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