Samson’s Cave Trail is a beautiful hiking trail in the Jerusalem mountains that is not long (about 4 km), but relatively challenging. It begins at the Scroll of Fire monument near Ksalon and ends at Nahal Sorek.
Length of the route: about 4 km.
Degree of difficulty: A route of high difficulty that is typical of the Jerusalem mountain area and is characterized by mountain sections and river channels.
Trail Marker: Blue 9363 (Read more about trail marking in Israel).
The recommended period for hiking: autumn and spring – not after rains (danger of slipping).
Starting point: On the road to the Scroll of Fire Monument, about half a kilometer south of Ksalon.
End point: Road 38 between Moshav Naham and Beit Shemesh.
Scroll of Fire is a monument found in the Jerusalem hills, and it commemorates Jewish history from The Holocaust until Independence. The monument was inaugurated in 1971 after the B’nai B’rith of the United States organization funded it. The monument was sculptured by the artist Nathan Rapoport, who is a Holocaust survivor, and is made of bronze and is eight meters high. It is in the shape of two scrolls, a gesture to the Jewish nation being the “People of the Book”. One of the scrolls describes the Holocaust and the other describes independence.
Samson’s Cave Trail
The route starts near the Scroll of Fire Monument, which is about half a kilometer west of the starting point. We will start the trail itself about half a km south of Ksalon, on the access road to the Monument, and continue with the route marked by a blue trail marker.
The route begins in the plain in a southeasterly direction and after about 400 meters passes to a moderate ascent in a southwesterly direction, until reaching Mount Samson (in Hebrew: “Shimshon”). There, the path continues on a narrow spur (Har-Tov spur) and descends it gently towards the lowlands, with a steep abyss to the left. After a little more than 2 km of walking we will reach the 488 elevation point, with a beautiful view to the west.
From there, we will descend sharply to the right in a steep descent on the cliff of Samson’s Cave – we will be able to use the rock-hewn pegs.
Samson’s Cave
At the end of the descent, we will reach Samson’s Cave – which gives this route its name. It is a large karst cave, a result of the natural mass of the dolomite rock that makes up the cliff. Remains of an ancient culture can be found in and around the cave: stone walls, a pool for storing water, and a rock-hewn staircase.
According to the remains at the site, the cave was formerly used as a residence for monks in Byzantine times. They preferred to live in caves and on rocky ledges because such isolated quarters ensured that they disturbed no one and because this isolation enabled them to keep their distance from human society.
Today, its only inhabitants are hundreds of bats of various species – some of which are defined as endangered species. If you arrive at the place towards the hours of darkness, you can watch them go in and out of the cave with a spectacular view.
The cave bears the name of the Biblical Samson (Shimshon) for no particular reason beyond the fact that the Bible mentions his having roamed the area around Nahal Sorek.
Rest of the Route
From Samson’s Cave, the route continues down the cliff to the Nahal Sorek channel in a steep descent (try to walk carefully). There is no bridge that allows you to cross the stream, but it can be crossed relatively easily by jumping between the stones. From there we will continue with a road suitable for SUVs that continues along Nahal Sorek until we reach the exit to Road 38, between Moshav Naham and Beit Shemesh.
Those who are interested can continue south to the Stalactite Cave (Sorek Cave).