Ben Shemen Forest: the Hadid singletrack round Tel Hadid

From the car park on the road up to Mitzpe Modi'in in Ben Shemen Forest (יער בן שמן), ride to the trail entrance north of the Route 443 underpass and follow the green-marked Hadid singletrack, signed one way, anticlockwise. It climbs east over rock steps, drops through the trees and runs north past ancient quarries to the slopes above Nahal Natuf. It then circles Tel Hadid, an old mound settled from the Iron Age until 1948, with a view over the coastal plain, and comes back south and east through the forest, past cave dwellings and old orchards, to the entrance.

It is 11.2 km round with 164 m of climbing; allow about 1½ hours of riding. The grade is Moderate: singletrack with rock steps up and down, rated intermediate by KKL rather than beginner.

Ride only in the signed direction and keep to the green marks: many unofficial paths cross the trail. Anemones flower around February and cyclamen in early winter. KKL has closed the car park beside the lookout itself while it rebuilds the amphitheatre: park along the access road.

The forest is free. It lies beside Route 443 east of the Ben Shemen interchange; there is no convenient bus.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.