Jabal Akhdar - the village walk

December 02, 2020

Jabal Akhdar - the village walk

Jabal Akhdar is famous of the terraced orchards - and the best way to explore them is to undertake the village walk. While it is a short hike it has quite a few steps - we certainly all felt it the next day! The route is also part of the marked trails listed by the Omani tourism ministry, trail 18 - it seems their homepage changed, and the maps are gone, but you can find some of them HERE. We did not do the full trek to Saiq since it was already quite late and it is not a round trip, we turned back at Ash Shuraiqa village, around halfway and walked back on the falaj (map.me shows the treks). We plan to come back during spring when the trees and roses are in full blossom to complete the whole trek!

The best rose gardens view are behind the yellow mosque in Al Ain - the markers will skip that part, but it makes sense to follow the falaj and explore the terraces. You will also find an ancient water reservoir there - in the old days they controlled the water fall to the falaj from here to ensure all terraces have equal access to water.

Another worthy detour is the viewpoint from the falaj here which leads to an ancient and rather nerve wrecking stone staircase.

UPDATE: we did walk to Saiq during our last visit and frankly it is not worth it from Ash Shuraiqa. The trek is mostly flat, and some parts are on asphalt. It is nicer to turn back at Ash Shuraiqa and explore the alternative routes back. You can also reverse the hike and park in Ash Shuraiqa so you climb first and descend on the way back or if you are with 2 cars, you can park one at each end.

More posts about our trips including a tour exploring the rose terraces in Jabal Akhdar: HERE. The overview of all hiking trails we know of in this area is here.

Best time to visit: spring, when terraces are green and for rose blossoming in February/March

Pools: no

Marked: yes

Car: only 4WD is allowed up to Jabal Akhdar

Kids: toddler friendly

Summer: yes

Location for parking: 23.071744, 57.667070

Location for trail head: same as parking

Location for end of the hike:

Difficulty: easy

Total time: round trip for the 3 villages 2-3 hours. One way all the way to Sayq min 2 hours

Distance: 4 km