Trek Southern District — Arava, near Eilat, Israel

Timna Park — Copper, Sandstone and Solomon's Pillars

A full day threading the red sandstone of the southern Negev: the Mushroom, the Arches, ancient Egyptian copper mines and rock carvings, and the towering Solomon's Pillars.

Timna Park — Copper, Sandstone and Solomon's Pillars — Photo: Little Savage · Public domain

Duration: 1 days
Distance: 10 km
Ascent: 250 m
Difficulty: Moderate
Best season: Cool season October–April; avoid the extreme summer heat of the Arava desert

Timna Park sits in the Arava desert about 30 km north of Eilat, a valley of some 42,000 dunams where wind and water have carved raw sandstone into shapes that seem almost sculpted on purpose. The rock runs deep red but turns yellow, orange, grey and black across a single cliff, and near the old copper workings the sand can shade to green and blue.

This is one of the oldest mining landscapes on earth — copper was dug here from the Neolithic period, and the Egyptians of Seti I and Ramesses II left a shrine to the goddess Hathor and rock drawings of warriors on ox-drawn chariots. You walk through all of it in a day.

Getting there. Drive north from Eilat on Route 90 (about 25 minutes) to the park entrance. Timna is a large park with roads linking the sites; this route links the highlights on foot, so leave a car at the entrance or arrange a shuttle for the longer legs.

Good to know:

This is a hyper-arid desert. Carry at least 3 litres of water per person, a hat and sun cover, and start early.
The Arches involve fixed iron ladders and rungs on rock — straightforward but not for anyone uneasy with heights.
There is an artificial lake near the exit where you can rest and refill.

Day 1

Across the Timna Valley

Timna Park entrance → Timna Lake 10 km ↑ 250 m

A loop through the heart of the park, from eroded hoodoos and coloured sand to ancient mine shafts, rock carvings and the great sandstone pillars, ending at the shaded lake.

Segments

The Mushroom and the coloured sands 2 km ↑ 40 m

Park entrance → The Mushroom

Flat desert path over red sand

An easy warm-up across open valley floor to the Mushroom, a red sandstone hoodoo shaped over ages by wind and water, standing among copper-stained rocks where the sand takes on green and grey tints. About 1 hour.
The ancient copper mines and the chariots 2.5 km ↑ 70 m

The Mushroom → Egyptian rock drawings

Gravel track and low rock steps

Cross to the oldest mining ground on earth, past vertical shafts sunk into the rock, to the famous Egyptian rock drawings of warriors with axes and shields driving ox-drawn chariots — a scene carved more than three thousand years ago. About 1.5 hours.
Climbing the Arches 2 km ↑ 90 m

Egyptian rock drawings → The Arches

Sandstone with fixed iron ladders

A short scramble aided by iron ladders and rungs brings you up to the natural stone arches on the western cliff, with a wide view back over the valley of colour. About 1.5 hours.
Solomon's Pillars and the Hathor shrine 2 km ↑ 50 m

The Arches → Solomon's Pillars

Sandy path and cut stone steps

Reach the park's icon: Solomon's Pillars, half-columns of sandstone carved by water down natural fractures in the cliff. At their base lie the ruins of the small Egyptian temple to Hathor, goddess of mining, built for the miners under Seti I. Steps beside the pillars climb to a rock-cut inscription of Ramesses III. About 1.5 hours.

About this place

Hathor was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god Ra, both of whom were connected with kingship, and thus she was the symbolic mother of their earthly representatives, the pharaohs. She was one of several goddesses who acted as the Eye of Ra, Ra's feminine counterpart, and in this form, she had a vengeful aspect that protected him from his enemies. Her beneficent side represented beauty, music, dance, joy, love, sexuality, and maternal care, and she acted as the consort of several male deities and the mother of their sons. These two aspects of the goddess exemplified the Egyptian conception of femininity. Hathor crossed boundaries between worlds, helping deceased souls in the transition to the afterlife.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: Jeff Dahl · CC BY-SA 4.0
Down to Timna Lake 1.5 km ↑ 0 m

Solomon's Pillars → Timna Lake

Flat valley path

An easy finish across the valley floor to the artificial lake near the exit — shade, water and a place to rest at the end of the desert day. About 45 minutes.