Please everywhere you hike take out more than you bring in!
The Carmel Mountains are 39 kilometers long, 8 kilometers wide and are crisscrossed with great day hikes. In the next few years I plan to hike all the trails from North to South and write a simple guide to each hike.
To have a safe enjoyable hike please make sure you look at advise for novice hikers before you start.
As everyone probably knows there was a wildfire on the Carmel Mountains that started on December 2nd 2010. The media tends to exaggerate everything, and they did the extent of the fire as well. While the fire was terrible, most of the Carmel is untouched. I will clearly indicate in my guide the extent to which trails were affected by the fire.
The hikes:
Printable version to download including map.
2: University Loop, Nachal Galim to Ein Kedem year round springs, up Nachal Neder back to University 5 hours*, medium difficulty, affected by fire
Printable version to download including map.
3: Kibbutz Yagur loop, Zigzag up Carmel to picnic area, gentle walk through Mountains to challenging red trail down Nahal Yagur.
6 hours*, medium/difficult, unaffected by fire
Printable version to download including map.
4: Kibbutz Yagur loop_2, Walk above Nachal Yagur with spectacular views, easy path back down. 4 hours* easy/medium, unaffected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
5: Sefunim loop, Up past the Sefunim bat caves and back down a long the Megadim cliffs. 2.5 hours* medium difficulty, unaffected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
6: Little Switzerland loop, Nachal Galim, Nachal Kelach, Little Switzerland. 4 hours* medium difficulty, affected my fire.
Printable version to download including map.
7: Yagur loop_3, Diagonal hike up the red trail to Carmel View Road then back down the black trail.
4.5 hours*, medium/easy difficulty, unaffected by fire.Printable version to download including map.
8: Damon Junction Loop, Red trail though magical valley, Carmel View Road and up the Israel Trail. 3 hours*, medium difficulty, unaffected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
9: Damon Junction Loop 2, Down Nachal Kelach to the Little Switzerland area, up to Bet Oren, to Ein Alon and up through the Alon valley. 4.5 hours*, medium, affected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
10: Sefunim to Oren Junction, Up Nachal Sefunim past the bat caves to the edge of Bet Oren, then down the north edge of Nachal Oren to the Oren Junction nature reserve. 5.5 hours*, medium, affected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
11: Oren Junction Loop, Up Nachal Bistan, across the road leading to the Arab Ein Howd, then beneath Nir Etzion to the Ein HOd artist conlony. From there to the Atlit caves and back down to Bet Oren Junction. 6 hours, medium/easy, affected by fire
Printable version to download including map.
12: Carmel Mountain View Road Loop, Down an unnamed wadi through a native oak forest, past walls of a ruin, and back up to the Carmel View Road. 3 hours, medium/easy, unaffected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
New! 13: Carmel Caves long loop, (Site of Ancient Man). Hike up to the Carmel Mountain forest, through the forest to the Israel Trail. Go past the Omer Obsersvation tower, past the tomb of Shiek Amir, and a cave where Fruit Bats live. 3.5 hours, easy/medium, unaffected by fire.
Printable version to download including map.
* Time is based on how long it took me to hike the route, including time spent eating lunch and taking pictures.