Gabi Atek (Oded Sahar, Nature and Parks Authority)
Due to the wonderful floods that occurred this week in the Negev and Arava region, we asked Nathanael Allinson, head of the Arava Midrash and Man of the Desert, to prepare a list of the ten most worthwhile backwaters in the Negev, many of which are now full, and are great for immersion and a trip.
"The Yehuda desert did not enter the game because it would have taken seven places out of the top ten," explains Allinson why this desert region of the country was removed from the list, and therefore focused on the Negev region, that is, from Gaza-Be'er Sheva-Dimona - the Arava junction and south to the Eilat mountains.
Come on, let's start.
10th place: Gev Yerkam
If it was up to me he would be off the list because it is not a back but a neighborhood swimming pool.
Its relative proximity to vehicles and its relatively northern location made it too touristy and sometimes dirty.
But in the end I could not ignore one of the most significant backs in the Negev, also historically.
And he is great.
A place to jump, nice corners, and a back that stays deep into the summer.
Ein Yerkam
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9th place: Back artery
On one of the channels coming down from the small crater.
Not familiar at all.
Nice of a guy.
Four by five meters of water that are most likely not filled with hiker sweat.
When it's full it's a celebration.
Disadvantages: there is no beach, if the water goes down and you are not strong enough - there is a good chance you will get stuck inside.
So always leave someone out.
8th place: Gev Shavit
What did you want, that there would be no affirmative action here?
look
The back in itself was not even supposed to enter the list of the hundred backs.
But- and there is a but here.
He is the only representative in the entire Nitsana Sands area!
Backing in an area of sand is rare, and I also couldn't leave a huge area off the list.
Nahal Shavit joins it to a short and nice canyon and the back is hidden under a small waterfall among ash trees.
A very significant addition of points: six minutes' walk from the back is Shavit Dune, a wonderful dune of reddish sand, one of the most beautiful in the Negev.
Yes, yes, a score is also added here for the space around the back.
7th place: Channel 126 (Gev Zufar)
Gev Tzoper, also known as "Channel 126", is named after the only way to find this stream: at the 126th kilometer from Eilat (there are tiny signs on the side of the road).
A small and beautiful gorge, not usually hiked - and at the end, a high waterfall at the bottom of which is a sweet back from the land of sweets.
Secret: there is also a big ridge above the waterfall and there is a rise to the south of the waterfall.
The beach at the back is great, a huge acacia tree provides shade, and if you're lucky enough to see the waterfall flowing - it's all high lights.
6th place: Gev Eishron and Gev Nahal Atek
Yes, it's cheating, I put two here, but love spoils the line.
And I'm sick of the northern Eilat mountains.
When I saw that there was no place in the list for both of them and I said - Alas!
After all, I love both of them so much - come on, they are relatively close, let's push them together.
Gev Isharon: Hor Olam.
The Northern Eilat Mountains.
A real surprise.
Not far from the settlement of Shaharot, a relatively large ridge hides under a high waterfall.
The magic of a place hidden in a loop of a stream that creates a kind of auditorium that closes on the back.
A wonderful beach.
Fill infrequently (about once every three to five years).
Gabi Nahal Atek: wonder of wonders.
As we know, the Eilat mountains do not excel in backs, but in other things (maddening scenery, colors, etc.), but Nahal Atek is like a greeting from the Judean desert in an unexpected place.
An impressive mall with a series of three unusual ridges with ladders between them.
Filled once every five years.
Gabi Atek in the mountains of Eilat (photo: Nature and Parks Authority, Reut Sagi, Nature and Parks Authority)
5th place: Gev Phosphorus
Wow, calm down with the curses!
I know, many of my good friends strongly claim that this is unequivocally the most beautiful back in the Negev.
This is because above the back there is a kind of beautiful cave with a hole in the ceiling, and the sun that shimmers on the water and the walls creates a spectacular display.
Everything is true but there is a problem: I hate being lied to.
And Phosphorus' back is always frozen.
It's always in the shade, and it also doesn't have a good beach next to it, only such rocks that you can hardly stand on them.
The advantage of the shade above it is that it lasts a relatively long time.
Phosphorus back
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Place 4: Back of Nahal Hava
I know that's not why it's called that - but a hundred meters in front of a farm you just feel like you're in heaven.
A narrow gorge decorated with green fig trees in the middle of the desert, and at the end - a perfect ridge under a beautiful waterfall.
A particularly comfortable pebbly beach.
Paradise.
Only downside: always shady.
I like backs that also have sun.
Back of Nahal Hava
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3rd place: Gev Sharaf
Not far from Zin factories, a short stream with several backs.
The top ridge and two kilometers later a waterfall with two more great ridges.
But the top spot on the list is thanks to the upper back.
A small patch of God left from this area before the destruction of the Zin factories.
Perfect back.
Deep, big, clear, under a not high waterfall, a great beach, back with sun - that is, relatively warm and pleasant, and near Ashelim with shade.
What more is there to ask for?
Resin back
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2nd place: The White Mall
I don't know, I'm very ambivalent about my own choice to push the white canyon to such a high place.
I admit that on a personal level I don't have a special connection to it (perhaps because it is a back reserved almost exclusively for jeeps. It is extremely far from any road except the closed road 10, and in the heart of fire areas).
On the other hand, the wet data cannot be ignored: it is a back whose contents can contain all the backs I have mentioned up to now multiplied by three times.
It is actually a canyon tens of meters long, which after the entire flood, is simply all one long ridge of clear, blue water.
It is found in the Sagi River channel, south of Mount Karchum.
When it is full, it is one of the most wonderful places in Israel.
The White Canyon
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Place 1: Back of Nahal Yaham
my true love.
The undisputed king of the south.
He gives his waters only to the saws of the desert walkers.
sunny.
Huge.
Huge.
spectacular.
crazy
The back of Nahal Yachem is hidden at the foot of a mighty waterfall in a gorge that descends from Mount Kifa to Nahal Paran.
It has everything.
He is huge.
It has a soft and pleasant and magical beach, the waterfall above it is one of the most special there is, it looks as if God himself carved it.
Not close to the car but not very far either (half an hour walk).
And what is the catch that adds points to it: it is difficult to impossible to know when it is full.
That is, from the moment it flows - it has a "roof" a week before it permeates and disappears.
Last year I was there on a Friday and it was full of insufferable craziness, and five days later I was there with a bunch of people who lit them on this place, and it was a little knee-deep in a puddle.
In short, the hard-to-get dimension only makes it better.
And yesterday it was filled to overflowing.
That's it, friends.
I'm sorry on behalf of all those who, with great pain, I had to leave out (a partial list: Gev Tzanif, Ein Om Tina, Barak, Vardit, Gev Sapir, Gev Holit, Gabi Peres, Gabi Khazra, Gev Karkhum, the Olympic backs in Paran, Gev Shuel, Gabi Yamin, Gavi Mazar, Ein Orhot, Ein Umm Salah, Gavi Yelk, Gavi Hadev, Gov, Akarev, Gavi Tzin).
It is very important!
In the above list there is no recommendation for any of the places. The above list also does not claim to explain directions - for that, look in the authorized guides.
Do not enter fire areas and unmarked routes in reserves without prior coordination with the authorized authorities.
tourism
Trips in the country
Trips in the south
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backs
the Negev
the prairie
floods
