Pebble Mountain, Muscat

Muscat is surrounded by beautiful mountains so it seems obvious that there are great hiking routes. There are, but they are not that obvious to find - most of them are not marked. One good resource to find out more about these hikes is Badass Lady Hikers page - this group started as a small circle of friends exploring these hikes and now they have a growing FB group as well boosting a mix of more experiences and novice hikers always happy to share and give advice!

We have not really hiked around Muscat with the exception of the Muttrah Geotrek and the Sidab coastal hikes so I was super happy to get an invitation to join one of their weekday hikes. They took me to Pebble Mountain, the hills behind ABA school. There are no marks, you park next to the road and start climbing towards the top - bit  adventurous but certainly fun :).

From the parking you start climbing up up to the wadi and eventually you keep right to reach the summit . Not marked . Here are some markers: wadi starts at 23.576922, 58.443545, you just keep climbing. There are few dry waterfalls to pass. At 23.574443, 58.446990 there is a saddle, with nice view over Muscat and Al Fahal island. From here the summit is on your right - you just push up. Best to keep to the left, ground is more solid there and not as loose as elsewhere. Summit is around 23.572742, 58.446746

Location for parkin: 23.5784,58.4448
Duration: 2-3 hours
Difficulty: it requires a bit of climbing so although it is short, I would call it difficult. Not for small kids.