Ein Yorkeam

Ein Yorkeam is a very easily accessible water spring situated right at the exit of the Big Crater of Yeruham. A 20 minutes drive from the guesthouse.  The place is charming

and for those who are in a hurry, who don’t want to walk too much and who want to see water in the desert, Ein Yorkeam is an excellent option. Unless there was a drought, you will find some water all year round, even at the highest of the summer.

From our guesthouse, it is just a very small digression if you are on your way to the Dead Sea. 

You can choose to spend an entire day there, or just to check it out quickly, depending on the time you have. 

How to get there?

Take the 204 road going to Yeruham. In Yeruham, turn right at the big roundabout. Once you have left the town, you will be on the beautiful road 225 which goes accross the Big Crater. 

A few hundred meters after the Colourful Sands, make a turn left following a sign for Oron.  

The parking for Ein Yorkeam is lesst than 500 m away, on your left hand side. 

Get to the spring

It will take you about 10 minutes to get to the spring. From the parking, you will easily find the starting point.  Just follow the green mark. You will first have to pass a small mound hiding what’s expecting you behind. 

This is the main “difficulty” of this stroll which is as short as it is flat. Immediately after that mound, the landscape opens-up and you will be able to see a cirque made of stones. This is where you want to go.  

As you get deeper into the riverbed, the vegetation becomes thicker. 

You’ll be passing thickets that clearly shows how strong the stream of water can be when it rains and a river forms. 

When getting closer to the cirque, one can only imagine the intensity of the floods falling from the cliff into the many pools at the bottom. This happens everytime there is a strong rain, between two to five times a year on average. 

You will want to get down there as soon as possible. But don’t be in a hurry.  

Even if this is not all as abrupt as this hole, and if it seems feasible in some places, I would urge you not to try going down the cliff. Carry on walking along the green path until it meets a red one.   

There you will find a path carved in the stones (it even has stone stairs carved at the Byzantine times, in order to let the camels get to the water). 

From this path, you will be able to easily get tot he water and make the most of these beaches that are so tempting. 

If you get there in November or March, there is a good chance you won’t be on your own as beautiful and easily accessible means on the paath of school excursions. But most of the time, you will be on your own or almost.  And it will be hard to resist the urge of sitting down for a while, or explore the different pools which will be more or less filled depending on the strenght and the distance from the last rain. 

The spring (which is right at the end) gets a supply of fresh water all year round. Most of the time, it is deep enough to enable you to bath. 

You may find the color of the water uninviting, especially when it is not so deep. But most Israeli visitors don’t think twice about getting in.

This is the ideal place for a pique-nique or for making good use of a travel coffee kit (the indispensable accessory for all Israeli eager to hike), or even for taking out a tablecoth, glass wines and a good bootle.    It is also a good starting point to discover the abundant flora 

as well as fauna (especially the many birds looking for a drink).  

Once you’ve had enough, just go back to your car following the same path. Or

Continue hiking

You can continue following the green path along the gorge and the riverbed (from the get go, it’s a bit uneven but nothing difficult).   

If you are ready for it (logistics needed), you could even go as far as Gev Yamin. It is a breathtaking hike but long (20 km) and relatively difficult. As this is not a loop, you will need to have someone waiting for you at the other end. But even if you are not going to get to the end of the hike, don’t hesitate to go as far as you feel you can go with the amount of time at your disposal, since the landscape is just beautiful and changing rapidely. 

When you’ve had enough, just go back to your car.