Page 14 - Discover Israel Magazine - UK edition 2019

Hike the north

on the Israel National Trail

From the greenery of the north to the desert sands in the south, an unparalleled
landscape awaits you across Israel's National Trail

Leoni Jesner

The Israel National Trail was To provide an illustration to Israel’s diminutive Henkin, a comprehensive guide, maps and
founded by journalist and size, it’s very possible to walk the entirety useful descriptions are presented in an easy
avid hiker Avraham Tamir, of the country by foot. The official trail to read format. Split into digestible sections,
after his expedition across the commences at Metulla at the Israel-Lebanon the guide arranges routes from north to south,
Appalachian Trail in 1980 - the world’s border and ends at the waters of the Red ranging from 14km up to 30km each.
longest hiking-only footpath running from Sea in Eilat. Although the distance from north
Maine to Georgia. Tamir’s experience served to south Israel spans around 470km, the Read on to discover what awaits you on one
as the catalyst to his vision of a similar trail winding nature of the footpath increases the of Israel’s most northern routes.
in Israel, one which would expose hikers and breadth of ground covered.
travellers to the country's natural habitats and Tel Hai to Yesha Fort
expansive terrains. He joined forces with Ori It takes anything from a few weeks to
Dvir, a founder of The Society for Protection approximately 60 days to complete the whole The 19km stretch captures sweeping views
of Nature in Israel, to begin development on trail, depending on your walking speed and of mountainous terrain, framed by Israel’s
the 1,000km trail. rest times. As such, its design allows for hikers wilderness and natural landscape. This
to discover sections of Israel at their leisure section of trail commences at the Roaring
Over a decade and a half was spent intricately through bitesize tracks indicated along the Lion monument at Kfar Giladi in Tel Hai, a
joining existing hiking routes before establishing route by three stripes of white (for the north), memorial site in the Upper Galilee erected in
the Israel Nation Trail in 1995. It has since been blue in the middle and orange (for the south). memory of eight guards who tragically lost
named as one of the “World’s Best Hikes: Epic their lives during defence of the settlement.
Trails” by National Geographic in its spread of In the book The Israel National Trail and the
the world’s top 20 “holy grail of trails.” Jerusalem Trail, by Jacob Saar and Yagil In this region is the Beit Hashomer Museum,
founded at Kibbutz Kfar Giladi in 1968 to depict
the story of the Bar Giora – an underground

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