The Little Arch at Timna Park

Trail Color Markers: green and red at the end

The trail includes climbing a ladder and walking alongside a rail on the edge of a cliff and may be problematic for those suffering from fear of heights.

The trail begins with the green trail marker north of the vehicle road. Follow the marker through a small sandstone gorge to a small wadi. From here you turn left to the west and after a small climb you'll find yourself in a 'field of plates.' In the area in front of you are shallow rounded craters called 'plates.' Using aerial photographs, about 8,000 such plates were counted in the erosion surfaces at the foot of the cliffs. Each such plate was discovered as an ancient mining shaft that had been sealed. Follow the trail to the observation point over the 'arches.' From this point, there is a beautiful view of the two arches that are to the west. After climbing the arch, you can look east to the northern part of the Timna Valley and to the cliffs bordering the Jordan Valley to the north. On the other side of the Arava are the Edom Mountains. The view to the southeast is partly blocked by Timna and its flat peak. A careful descent from the observation point will bring you to the foot of the great arch. Here the green trail marker connects to the red trail marker, and you will continue to the left, down the gorge, to the parking lot at the arches site. From here you will continue with the road about 300m towards the beginning of the trail and the vehicle.
From the meeting point with the red trail marker, you can continue with it (trail 8) or wander independently to the great arch, the old mines or the Egyptian miner's cave.

Written by: Assaf Holzer

Photo: Dafna Tal for the Israeli Ministry of Tourism