The area is access sensitive
🚗 Directions (car): From Al-Manara circle in Ramallah drive west, downhill on the main Rukab Street. Follow the road all the way down through the Al-Tireh neighbourhood and past the last traffic circl... Read more
We like Ein Qiniya
Activities on this crag
The area is access sensitive!
🚗 Directions (car):
From Al-Manara circle in Ramallah drive west, downhill on the main Rukab Street. Follow the road all the way down through the Al-Tireh neighbourhood and past the last traffic circle. Continue straight down the hill through a number of switchbacks. Turn left on road 463 towards Ein Qiniya village at the bottom of the valley. Follow 463 to the village of Ein Qiniya. Drive through the village and take a right at the intersection near the mosque. Immediately take the right (higher) road down towards the “Zeituna” spring. Nearing the spring, the road will turn from asphalt to dirt. Once you arrive at the spring, take a left (crossing over the spring) and head up hill. Take another left at the intersection and head up the steep dirt road, following as it winds sharply to the right at the top of the hill.
Park where the road ends.
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Hike north up the hill to gain the high ground above the roads and houses. Then head right to the cliffs above the olive groves. The cliffs face southeast directly across the valley from the Reehan hospital. The trail from the parking area is marked by rock cairns but some may have fallen down due to weather and goats. Do your best to stay on the trail that looks the most used. If you are worried about your car making it up the hill, just park at the bottom by the spring next to the stone wall.
🚌 Directions (public transport):
Reaching the cliffs in Ein Qiniya by public transportation is cheap and fun! The service station to Ein Qiniya is located in the parking lot next to the Canadian Embassy (just a 5 minute walk from Al-Manara circle). There are two services that run shuttles to and from the village on weekdays during daylight hours. The weekend connections are far less frequent and almost non-existent on Fridays. The ride to Ein Qiniya village takes roughly 15 minutes. Once you reach the village, ask the driver to take you further down the valley to the “Zeituna” spring. The trip costs 10 NIS per person to the Zeituna spring (this can be negotiated closer to 5 NIS if you have “wasta”). From there, follow the directions above to reach the cliff. Majdi is the main service driver; he will teach you some Arabic poetry if you’d like!