Petra: Pharaoh's Column and the Snake Monument

From the Visitor Centre car park, take the Main Trail through the Siq and past the Treasury, the Theatre and the Colonnaded Street to Pharaoh's Column, the lone column of eleven stone drums behind the Great Temple, 4.2 km from the start. The authority lists the next stretch as the Snake Monument Trail: a track runs south-west up the valley past rock-cut monuments on the eastern foot of Umm al-Biyara, and near the end climbs in hairpins past old Nabataean farming terraces to the Snake Monument at Ath-Thugra, a rock-carved snake coiled on a cube-shaped block tomb, probably from the early second century BC. It stands on the old caravan route that goes on to Jabal Harun. Come back the same way.

It is 13.3 km there and back with 322 m of ascent; allow about 5 hours, more with stops (the authority's non-stop times for the Main Trail and the Snake Monument Trail add up to 5 to 6 hours there and back). The grade is Moderate: easy, gently downhill going as far as Pharaoh's Column, then 2.5 km of track, rising, and a short rocky path to the monument.

There is little shade beyond Qasr al-Bint, where the restaurants and toilets are: start early and carry plenty of water, a hat and sun cream. The authority advises doing this trail before late afternoon, and in its winter hours, from 2 October 2026 to 1 March 2027, the site closes at 17:00, so turn back in time to be through the Siq before then. The Siq floods after rain. The authority's tips page says to stick to the main trails unless you are with a guide; its own page for this trail does not ask for one, but ask at the Visitor Center when you buy your ticket.

A one-day ticket is 50 JD if you spend at least a night in Jordan and 90 JD on a day trip; the Jordan Pass includes Petra.

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.