Close your eyes and imagine the products you will be able to find in the Negev; I bet wine is not going to be at the top of your list. And yet wine tasting or even a full wine tour will be surprisingly easy to organize. As a matter of fact, if you are a lover of the genre, you could build your entire stay in the area around the history of wine and wine tasting.
Category: Mitzpe Ramon Area
Rappelling with Adam Sela
We have neither bungee jumping nor sky-diving, but we have excellent rappelling (or snappling). It generally takes the form of a long and strenuous climb followed by a quick and thrilling descent.
Mount Karkom – The Mountain of God?
Har Karkom is a mystery. While it makes no doubt it was a major paleolithic worship place,
some believe it to be the Mountain of God, one of about 12 contendants to the title of Mount Sinai.
Mount Ardon
Mount Ardon (Har Ardon) can be attacked in any season, it requires planning and precision timing, it is moderately challenging. All Israeli hiking aficionados know about Har Ardon but there is a good chance that you will not meet another soul on this three-hour hike
Vegan Xpress
Vegan Xpress is a vegan restaurant, no surprises there. But from now on, everything is going to be a total surprise. It’s in Mitzpe Ramon which is a very small town but I guarantee that without GPS or Waze you could spend an entire day with a map and you wouldn’t find it.
Mount Ramon and Karnei Ramon View Point
Important update: before you venture to Mount Ramon, check that road 171 is open. Due to some flood damages; it was closed to civilian circulation in October 2022 and no date for reopen has been announced as far as I know. But repairs are scheduled.
Like the Albert Promenade and the Sculpture Park, this excursion to Mount Ramon and the Karnei Ramon viewpoint allows you to look down into the immense geological phenomenon which is the Ramon Makhteshm but this time, from the other extremity.
The Sculpture Park in Mitzpe Ramon
Because you can never get enough of this view
I wrote a separate post about the Albert Promenade (the red line on the map), a scenic walk that runs the length of Mitzpe Ramon along the rim of the makhtesh, a one hour hike, and I mentioned in that post that this walk has an extension that leaves the town behind and runs through a sculpture park. I referred to it as the fifth stretch. Well, this is it (orange line on the map).
Borot Lotz
Borot Lotz hike is a 45 minute drive from Sde Boker and the guesthouse.
Update: before you venture to Borot Lodz, check that the road 171 is open. Due to some important damages to the road, it has been closed in October 2022 until repaired.
How to get there?
You start driving South on road 40 in the direction of Mitzpe Ramon. About 6 km before Mitzpe Ramon, you turn right on road 171.
A Scenic Walk along the Cliff at Mitzpe Ramon (including the Albert Promenade)
A three km walk along flat, even surface with optional side-climbs. The Ramon makhtesh is so huge that just seeing it from a single vantage point would be a shame. Bring a pullover and binoculars. This walk should not be undertaken in conditions of extreme heat or extreme wind. A sunny cool day in winter (November – March) or late afternoon in summer; early morning in the summer is also an option but you will have the sun directly in your eyes.
Mitzpe Ramon Visitors’ Center
The Visitors’ Centre is a place to visit during a snow storm, a rain storm, a dust storm or in a heat wave. You will never see a queue of people waiting to go in but coaches are parked outside. People leaving the visitors’ centre look as if they have just woken up.
