Israel National Trail: Five-Day Highlights

On the desert days — Ein Avdat, the Ramon Crater, the Eilat Mountains — there is no reliable water between marked points. Carry far more than feels necessary (in warm weather think 4–5 litres per person per day), start at first light, and be walking before the heat.

Autumn and spring are the trail’s seasons. The desert days are dangerous in high summer (June–September), and in winter flash floods can close the canyons — check forecasts before any wadi day, and never enter a canyon when rain is forecast upstream.

This is a highlights itinerary, not a continuous walk: the Galilee days run from Tzfat, the desert days from Sde Boker and Mitzpe Ramon, the finale from Eilat. A rental car is the comfortable option; intercity buses work with more planning.

No permit is needed for the trail itself, but sections pass through nature reserves and national parks — Ein Avdat among them — that charge a small entry fee and close before dusk. Time those days so you’re out of the reserve gates before closing.

The trail is marked its entire length with the INT’s white-blue-orange blaze. On the highlights days you’ll also cross other marked trails — at junctions, follow the tricolour, not the nearest paint.

Trail angels famously host through-hikers, but for a five-day highlights trip it’s simpler to book accommodation in advance in the three base towns and day-hike from them.

Crossing the makhtesh from Mitzpe Ramon is the most remote day of the five — no services, big exposure, huge reward. Keep it for a day with a good forecast, tell someone your plan, and carry your full water load from the start.