The Caves Trail – Easy Family Hike near Yokneam – Visitors Guide
The Caves Trail at Keren HaCarmel forest offers picnic areas and trails for families full of nature, and it even has burial caves.
Table of Contents
Map
Keren HaCarmel Forest is located near Yokneam. You should get off road #70 at Elyakim interchange and drive towards Daliyat al-Karmel. After several minutes, you will see Keren HaCarmel Forest to your right.
You can use the directions links below.
Directions for drivers: Link to Waze and Link to Google Maps
Directions for public transport: Link to Moovit
Interactive map of the area:
Offers:
- Hotels, hostels, and apartments in this area:
- Buy photos of Israel and support this blog.
- Get 10% off for your next tour at Bein Harim with coupon code LEV10#12306.
And here is the map of the forest:
Parking
As you can see from the map above, if you want to get to the caves trail, you should not stop at the parking by road #672. Instead, continue driving to the next parking lot, where the red trail marking starts.
The dirt road is accessible to all vehicles, and many free parking spaces exist.
Opening Hours
There are no gates, and you can enter at any time. But since there is no artificial light, visit only during the day.
Entrance Fee
Free.
Contact Information
KKL-JNF’s Forest Hotline: 1-800-350-550
Trails
There are two variations of the caves trail. Here is an interactive map from israelhiking.osm.org.il where they are marked:
The length of the red loop trail is 2.4 km, with a total climb and descent of 102 meters (marked red on the map above).
If you want to shorten the hike and skip the climb, you can start on the red trail and switch to the green trail. In this case, the length will be 1.4 km, and the total climb and descent will be 23 meters (marked blue on the map above).
When To Visit?
It is best to visit after the rains, toward the end of winter, and during spring.
Here are several photos from the first section of the trail:
Notes:
- This visit was at the end of January.
- As you can see from the photos, it is a popular trail, and many people visit it.
Since we arrived late, we decided to take the shorter version of the trail. We took the green trail, which is a paved road, back to the parking lot.
Here are several photos from that section:
Summary
This lovely family trail has caves, shade, greenery, and several picnic areas. Completing the short trail took us a little more than one hour. Also, children usually love exploring caves, thus bring small flashlights for them.
Since many other points of interest are nearby, you can always combine a visit with other places. Additional attractions are listed on the interactive map at the top of this page.
Have you ever been to the Caves Trail? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.
That’s all for today, and I’ll see you on future trips!
Stay Tuned!
Additional Resources
Here are several resources that I created to help travelers:- Trip Planner with Attractions and Itineraries is the page that will help you create your perfect travel route.
- What is the Best Time to visit Israel? To answer this question, we will consider the weather, prices, holidays, festivals, and more.
- Information and Tips for Tourists to Israel will answer the most common questions tourists have about Israel (including safety, passports, weather, currency, tipping, electricity, and much more).
- Israel National Parks and Nature Reserves include a complete list, top ten, map, tickets (Israel Pass, Matmon, combo), and campsites.
- If you are looking for things to do, here are the pages for Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Sea Of Galilee, Akko (Acre), Eilat, Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), and Makhtesh Ramon.
