Trek Upper Galilee — Hula Valley, Israel

Tel Dan Nature Reserve: The Jordan's Source and the House of David

A short, shaded walk through the lushest corner of the Galilee — wading the cold Dan Stream, then climbing the tel past the world's oldest arched gate to where the 'House of David' inscription was found.

Tel Dan Nature Reserve: The Jordan's Source and the House of David — Photo: Hanay · CC BY-SA 3.0

Duration: 1 days
Distance: 2 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: Spring (March–May) for wildflowers and full flow; the shaded wading trail stays refreshing right through the hot summer

Few places pack this much water and this much history into a two-kilometer walk. The Dan Stream, the largest of the three headwaters of the Jordan River, bursts out of the ground here in cold, clear springs fed by Mount Hermon’s snowmelt, and the dense canopy it feeds makes the reserve feel out of place in an otherwise dry region — the reason it is often called a little Garden of Eden.

Above the water sits Tel Dan, the biblical city of Dan (Canaanite Laish). In one loop you pass a Middle Bronze Age mud-brick arched gate built about 1750 BCE, the Iron Age Israelite city gate where the famous ‘House of David’ inscription was found in 1993, and the great high place where the Book of Kings says Jeroboam set up a golden calf.

Getting there. The reserve sits at the northern tip of the Hula Valley, near Kibbutz Dan, about a 40-minute drive from Kiryat Shmona. It is an Israel Nature and Parks Authority site with an entrance fee.

Permits & tickets. No permit needed — pay at the gate. The wading trail requires shoes you can get wet; the water is genuinely cold year-round.

Good to know:

The main circuit is short and mostly flat, easy for families, with an accessible section to the springs.
Bring water shoes for the wading trail and a hat — the archaeological tel is exposed and hot in summer.

Day 1

The springs, the stream and the tel

Tel Dan Nature Reserve entrance → The Israelite high place 2 km

Navigate this day

A gentle circuit that starts in deep shade at the springs and ends up on the open archaeological mound above.

Segments

Paradise Springs & the head of the Dan 0.4 km 📍 Map

Reserve entrance → Paradise Springs

Shaded gravel path

Start where the Dan Stream is born — cold springs welling up under a dense canopy of Syrian ash and fig, fed by snowmelt from Mount Hermon. The Dan is the largest of the three headwaters of the Jordan River (about 240 million cubic meters a year), and it runs cold and full every month of the year. About 30 minutes.

About this place

The Jordan River or River Jordan, also known as Nahr Al-Sharieat, is a 251-kilometre-long (156 mi) endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead Sea. The river passes by or through Jordan, Syria, Israel, and Palestine.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Jean Housen · CC BY-SA 3.0
The wading trail 0.5 km 📍 Map

Paradise Springs → The flour mill pool

Stream bed and boardwalk

Step down into the streambed and wade a stretch of the Dan itself, the water clear and ankle-to-shin deep over pale gravel. This is the reserve's signature stretch — bracingly cold on the hottest day, which is exactly why it is a joy in summer. About 30 minutes.

About this place

The Jordan River or River Jordan, also known as Nahr Al-Sharieat, is a 251-kilometre-long (156 mi) endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead Sea. The river passes by or through Jordan, Syria, Israel, and Palestine.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Jean Housen · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Canaanite arched gate 0.4 km 📍 Map

The flour mill pool → Abraham's Gate

Dirt path up the tel

Climb onto the tel to a mud-brick gate built about 1750 BCE, in the Middle Bronze Age, when the city was still the Canaanite Laish. Its three true arches, standing on massive basalt blocks, are among the oldest complete free-standing mud-brick arches known anywhere; local tradition ties it to Abraham, so it is often called Abraham's Gate. About 30 minutes.
The Israelite gate & the 'House of David' 0.4 km 📍 Map

Abraham's Gate → The Iron Age city gate

Exposed archaeological mound

Reach the great Iron Age Israelite gate complex, with its paved courtyard and the low stone platform thought to have held the king's seat for judgment. It was here, in 1993, that a basalt slab carved in Old Aramaic came to light — the Tel Dan Stele, whose 'bytdwd' is read by most scholars as 'House of David', one of the earliest references to David's dynasty outside the Bible. About 30 minutes.

About this place

The Tel Dan Stele is a fragmentary stele with an Old Aramaic inscription written in the Phoenician script. It is generally dated to the 9th-century BCE, though some scholars have proposed later dates; it is one of the earliest, extra-biblical references to a Davidic dynasty. In 1993, it was discovered by Gila Cook, a member of an archaeological team led by Avraham Biran, among the rubble of a wall that had survived to modern times in Tel-Dan. Currently, it is on display at the Israel Museum.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Oren Rozen · CC BY-SA 4.0
The high place 0.3 km 📍 Map

The Iron Age city gate → The sacred precinct

Open mound

Finish at the sacred compound at the top of the tel, where excavators uncovered a large four-horned altar and a raised platform. This is the high place the Book of Kings connects with Jeroboam I, who — after the kingdom split — is said to have set up one of his two golden calves at Dan. A quiet, panoramic end to the walk. About 20 minutes.

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