Yahel for Families

Route description:

Crossing the Arava road through an underground passage and riding northward.
At the Arandal Farm (formerly a military outpost and today a small community that deals with tourism and agriculture), turn east. The cycling route passes through open and undisturbed areas, facing the Edom Mountains. You will continue riding in the agricultural fields of Kibbutz Yahel heading west, back to the kibbutz.

The route passes through Heritage sites:

Operation Uvda - On the hillside west of the road you'll see three symbols painted on the rocks. On the left is a symbol of the Golani Brigade, at the center is an IDF emblem and on the right is the emblem of the Palmach. The symbols were apparently drawn by units that participated in Operation Uvda or shortly after the operation ended.
In this operation, the Palmach Brigade and the Golani Brigade arrived at "Um Rush Rush" in the Gulf of Eilat. The Golani Brigade symbol is renewed from time to time by soldiers.
Arandal Observation Point - an agricultural farm located north of Kibbutz Yahel.
The farm was built on the remains of a Jordanian police station and later served as an IDF outpost. The remains of the milestones indicate that the hill was a meeting point on the "Spice Route," and some believe that Arandal was one of the roadside stations on the journey of the Israelites from Egypt. Near the hill is a Roman fortress. A similar fortress was discovered in the oasis of Yotvata.

The Israeli-Jordanian border - the international border with Jordan as determined and marked in the 1994 peace talks. The border in the Arava was first established by the British in 1922 between the Emirate of the Transjordan, to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the territory of the British Mandate in Israel. The border was set at the lowest point in the valley. With the armistice at the end of the War of Independence, the sides adopted the route of the border, but the agricultural areas that flowed eastwards were annexed to Israel. The fields of Kibbutz Lotan show that the border turns east and surrounds the agricultural areas.