Ein Prat – We’ve been there dozens of times. The shorter hike through the trees at the Nature Reserve is one of our favorite places to spend the day with our kids. And we’ve also hiked out to the right on the red path, towards the less crowded pools on the other side.

But in all the times that we’ve visited Ein Prat, we had never actually hiked the whole trail.

This year, we waited all winter long for a chance to fully explore this oasis twenty minutes from Jerusalem. But, it rained a lot this winter. And when it rains, desert hikes are closed. (There’s danger of flash floods).

So, despite our plans, we never actually made it to Nahal Prat – until this past Friday.

Ein Prat Nature Reserve hike.
The river in a canyon.
This time, we attempted to fully explore the trails at Ein Prat. We found that the long trail was a beautiful trek – by far the prettiest water hike in the Jerusalem vicinity. But we also learned a lot about how not to hike the path at Ein Prat.

Here’s the beautiful, the bad, and the ugly of how we hiked Nahal Prat:

You Can’t Always Trust a Park Ranger
We started off our hike with bits and pieces of information. We knew that the long trail along the river snaked out to Ein Mabua. And we knew that it was possible to return along the top of the canyon looking down, on the red trail. But we weren’t sure how long these trails were – could we complete them in one short morning?

So, when we pulled up at the booth to show our National Parks card, we asked the parks worker there for more information. According to him, the whole length of the trail, to Ein Mabua and back, was thirteen kilometers. He pointed out a different way to shorten the trail by almost two kilometers. And he also said that if we wanted to hike it one way (ending at Ein Mabua), we could probably get a taxi at the end.

Ein Prat Nature Reserve hike.
Walk on the water.
Spoiler alert!!! Some of that information was completely wrong.

We parked our car at the lower lot, then set out on the first short red trail, which connects to blue. Our plan was to take it easy, see how far we could hike, and then double back the way we came if we ran out of time.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
As we started on the trail, we saw the beauty of Nahal Prat – small waterfalls rushing into cool pools of crystal water, surrounded on all sides by white stone. It didn’t take long until we reached the farthest point we had ever traveled on the trail – a roughly circular pool with natural stone stadium seating all around.


Ein Prat Nature Reserve hike.
Crystal pool.
A few years back, we had spent the day here with friends. I remembered our teenagers and bigger kids jumping in repeatedly, to get a refreshing break from the summer heat.

Today, we weren’t planning on swimming, so we continued along the trail. There were several similar pools on the path as we walked. But the most spectacular change at Nahal Prat from our previous excursions were the multicolored flowers pouring out of every crevice of every rock.

Ein Prat Nature Reserve hike.
Spring at Ein Prat.
I had never seen Nahal Prat in springtime.

Tall reeds filled the paths along the pool. Poppies poured out in clusters. There were yellow and purple flowers, little white daisies, and many unfamiliar blossoms.

It made the whole desert oasis scene even more picturesque. Complete with birds, butterflies, and dragonflies, Nahal Prat was a little piece of paradise.

Ein Prat Nature Reserve hike.

свернуть