Ein Hardalit is a short and ideal trip for families with small children or babies, given the fact that the entrance to the reserve is about 100 meters from the car park. A walk of those shaded hundred meters will lead us to a group of shallow and pleasant paddling pools, surrounded by huge plane trees that provide wide shade, fig trees that bear fruit and impressive cliffs that rise from above. For the advanced, a deeper pool is about a mile down the trail.
Getting to Ein Hardalit
The start and endpoint of the route are in the Ein Hardalit parking lot, near Moshav Avdon. Arrive via Road No. 70, and turn onto Road 8911 in the direction of the settlements of Manot and Avdon. After about 1.5 km of driving, after the junction leading to the settlement of Manot, descend to a semi road semi dirt road that is marked with green trail markers.
Continue on this road carefully (the road is full of potholes and bumps) for about a kilometer until you reach a water pumping station and a car park created by the Nature Reserves Authority, which will be on your left – this is the recommended point for leaving your vehicle.
In waze: “Ein Hardalit Reserve”
For whom it is suitable
Suitable for small groups, families with children and couples, for a long daily outing.
Distance and nature of the walk
A walk of about 100 meters from the parking lot to the first pools is required, and you can continue for another kilometer to reach “the tube pool”. In terms of time, it is about 5 minutes to the first pools, 20-15 minutes to the pipe pool.
Moderate walk on a wide, flat path, partly shaded and partly exposed to the sun, including crossing shallow streams. Back the same way.
No special equipment is needed, but it is recommended to come with comfortable shoes for walking in the water.
More details
Admission to the place is free and with no time limit.
Please note – in recent years this natural gem has become (and rightly so) very popular, so the place is crowded on Saturdays, holidays, and vacations. If you want to enjoy the place in silence and relative privacy, it is recommended to come in the early morning and in midweek.
About Ein Hardalit
Ein Haredlit is a spring that springs in the Nahal Kziv Reserve, and as mentioned, is a popular attraction for many hikers on hot summer days. The route is best suited for families in light of the proximity of the first paddling pool to the vehicle parking, and because it allows easy walking through shallow water, an experiential and recommended thing when hiking with children.
As mentioned, the spring itself consists of two pools – the first is met immediately upon arrival from the parking lot. To reach the second, the “pipe pool”, one must continue with one of two options –
- Progress about 800 meters through the spring itself, a magical route surrounded by shallow water (most of the way at ankle-to-knee height). The water is not deep but very young children may need a little help, and in any case, it is advisable to be on the safe side and put arm floats on them.
- Detour around via a dirt road that continues for about 400 meters until you reach a bridge, which you cross again and again. From here there is the option to return to the streams route or continue for another 400 meters on the dirt road.
The “pipe” pool is named after the thick pipe that comes from the water pumping facility in the area and feeds water to the pool. Beginning in the 1950s, this pumping station actually “dried up” the creek and caused severe damage to the flora and fauna in the area. After years of struggle by the Society for the Protection of Nature and other “green” organizations to return the water of the streams to nature, the court recognized a precedent-setting of “nature’s right to water” and ruled that some of the water pumped should be returned to the river.
The same water that flows into the creek from the pumping station actually created the spring, and saved the surrounding creek vegetation – and that is basically what enabled this beautiful natural gem called “Ein Hardalit” to be.
There are nice places to stop for a break along the route. Return on the same way.
Did you know? The name “Hardalit” in Hebrew means many springs that break out in one place.
In The Area
The Israel National Trail passes close by.
Another nice trail not so far is the Saar Waterfall and the Friendship Bridge.