Ein Avdat

A creek in the cliff side where the mighty Zin stream, going west to east, descends from the highland and starts forming the deep Zin basin. This is the only section of the stream which flows all year long, thanks to the Avdat spring at its top. The water are brackish (that is, midway between salt and sweet water) and it is forbidden to enter the ponds (a regulation constantly enforced by the local rangers), but they do create a beautiful sight and attract a lot of animals, mainly ibexes, hyraxes and several bird species. Coming from the top entrance, you'll only be allowed to reach the viewpoint on the ridge, offering a great view of the creek and the basin, then you'll have to turn and go back. However, coming from the bottom, you can walk inside the creek itself, along the water, then either turn back or ascend the Via Ferrata steps out of the creek, to reach the top entrance. The walk is fit for children and should take a family around 30 minutes. However, in high season (mainly the Passover holiday in April) the place could be packed, and hiker "traffic jams" are likely to occur.

• outdoors
• viewpoint
• family

Getting there

Either reach the bottom entrance of the creek following the signs from the Ben Gurion College; or drive 15 minutes south of there on Highway 40 to reach the top. At least during busy days, the south entrance is closed for entrance and access/walk is only possible in north to south direction.

Hours

Sun-Thu Sat 8AM-4PM, Fri 8AM-5PM; during DST open for 1 additional hour

Price

Adult ₪28, student ₪23, child/senior ₪14; combined tickets with Avdat are available

Website

parks.org.il (opens in a new tab)