Climbing has been limited!

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From Jerusalem (15 min. by car): Leave the city through the Hizma (Pisgat Ze’ev) military checkpoint and take a right at the first roundabout towards Jericho. After about 1 kilometre, you will reach a junction with a brown signpost on your left indicating the way to Ein Fara (it is referred to as “Ein Prat” on the signpost). Take a left and drive until you reach the entry gate of the Israeli settlement of Anatot (Almon).

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From Ramallah (20 min. by car): Drive south past Qalandia checkpoint and continue past the Jaba checkpoint until you reach a junction (Jaba circle). Take a sharp right at the circle towards Hizma and Jerusalem. When you reach the next roundabout just before the Hizma checkpoint, continue south (left) towards Jericho. From there on follow the instructions above. If you are driving a green-plated Palestinian car or you are with Palestinians from the West Bank (green IDs), you ARE NOT allowed by the Israeli authorities to enter the Anatot settlement. If you want to drive into the park instead of hiking there then ignore the left turn to “Ein Prat” and continue dtraight for another 300 to 400 meters until a dirt road appears on your left. Caution, the dirt road is rough but if it is dry you do not need a 4x4. Drive down the winding dirt road for about 10 minutes until you reach the entrance gate of the Ein Fara nature reserve.

The three ways to enter the park are described below:

Walking option (note: if you hike down and don’t want to pay the entrance fee you can only climb at the Southern Wall, since the Northern Wall is located within the boundaries of the park area patrolled by park rangers): Anyone is allowed to walk down on the hiking trail towards Ein Fara by which you can avoid paying the entrance fee.

Park on the right side of the road just before the yellow gate. Cross the road and walk northwards along the settlement fence. It is possible that armed guards at the settlement will be watching you but you are not breaking the “law.” After a few minutes you will reach a trail with green and white markers that descends into the valley for about 25 minutes. At the end of a flat walking section (200 to 300 meters) leave the marked path and walk down to the left towards the visible cliff at the next corner of the valley (total time to reach the Southern Wall: 30-45 min.) Climbing at the Southern Wall does not required the payment of the entry fee. If you keep walking down to the Northern Wall, you are supposed to pay the entrance to the Israeli Parks Authorities. There is a ranger station by the parking lot in the bottom of the valley (past the climbing areas), where you may be allowed to pay although the official place to pay is at the vehicular entrance to the park (described below).

Driving Option (for foreigners, Israelis, Jerusalemites/ Israeli vehicles): Yellow plated cars (registered in Israel) are allowed to drive through the Anatot settlement to reach the entrance of the “Ein Prat” nature park. After passing through the settlement, pay the fee, and drive down into the park.