Petra: Umm al-Biyara, the mountain above the city

From the Petra Visitor Centre walk down through the Siq to the Treasury and along the Colonnaded Street to Qasr al-Bint. Turn back past the Great Temple to Pharaoh's Column and cross the open ground to the foot of Umm al-Biyara (أم البيارة), the flat-topped mountain that walls the city on the west. A restored Nabataean staircase, cut into the cliff and steep for most of its length, climbs to the summit plateau, where the walls of an Edomite village and rock-cut cisterns lie among the junipers. The view from the edges takes in the whole of Petra, Wadi Musa and Jabal Haroun. Come back the same way.

It is 11.8 km there and back with 464 m of ascent; allow about 4 hours, and longer on the summit. The grade is Moderate: an easy track to the city centre, then a relentless climb on uneven steps, exposed in places, with no shade.

Start at opening time: the climb faces the morning sun and you need to be back out through the Siq before the site closes, at 17:00 from October to March. Carry at least 3 litres of water each. The Petra authority closes the site when floods threaten.

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 it.

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.