All activities / Trekking / Hiking / Mitzpe Ramon
Trekking / Hiking in Mitzpe Ramon
A small desert town perched on the northern rim of Makhtesh Ramon, the Ramon Crater, in the heart of the Negev. The largest erosion crater in the world, 40 kilometres long and up to 500 metres deep, opens directly below the cliff-edge lookout, making the town the base for hiking, stargazing and wildlife in Israel's high desert.
Why here
Makhtesh Ramon is the largest erosion crater on Earth, a 40-kilometre gash in the Negev highlands that is not a meteor or volcanic crater at all but a landform found almost only in this desert, carved as water stripped away a soft core and left a steep-walled amphitheatre of coloured rock. Trails drop from the rim town of Mitzpe Ramon into a floor of rainbow sandstone, volcanic dikes, ammonite fossils and the strange prisms of the Carpentry, and the Israel National Trail threads the length of it. Nubian ibex pick along the cliffs, and the crater sits inside one of the darkest reserves in the region, so a night in the makhtesh brings a sky thick with stars. This is desert walking at its most elemental, from a two-hour rim-to-floor descent to multi-day treks that link the crater to the springs of Ein Avdat and the Nabataean ruins along the ancient Incense Route. Spring brings brief desert blooms, and the light at dawn and dusk turns the walls gold and rust.
Best months
The Negev is a cool-season desert, best walked from October to April; midsummer heat on the exposed crater floor is severe and should be avoided. Even in winter the sun is strong, so carry ample water, sun cover and a hat, and start early. Nights in the desert are cold from December to February, a real consideration for anyone camping in the crater. Trails range from short marked descents to committing multi-day routes with no water sources, so longer treks want a guide, and flash floods can fill the wadis after rare rain.
Getting there & around
Mitzpe Ramon lies about an hour south of Beersheba and roughly two and a half hours from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem by road, reachable by intercity bus. The visitor centre on the rim and the main lookout sit at the edge of town, with marked trails dropping into the crater from there. Short rim and descent walks can be done independently with a map and plenty of water; longer crater crossings and multi-day treks are best arranged with a local desert guide who handles route, water caching and camping. Accommodation runs from a hostel and desert lodges to campsites.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Adam Sela Desert Tours
GuideAdam Sela is a Negev wilderness guide who has led desert trips since 1991, based between Sde Boker and Mitzpe Ramon on the edge of Makhtesh Ramon. Alongside four-wheel-drive touring, rappelling and stargazing, he guides walking routes in the crater and multi-day treks, including a two-day crossing from Makhtesh Ramon down to the Arava and day hikes linking Ein Avdat and the Avdat ruins. His guiding leans on decades of reading the desert's geology, wildlife and Nabataean history.
Beresheet Desert Tours
OutfitterBeresheet Desert Tours is a Mitzpe Ramon operator running guided activities in and around Makhtesh Ramon, from guided hikes and rim-cliff rappelling to jeep tours, desert camping and Bedouin-style feasts. Its walking tours draw on the crater's geology, plants, wildlife and the history of the ancient Spice Route and its Nabataean traders. Based in the rim town, it tailors routes for individuals, families and groups, with stargazing evenings around a campfire adding to the desert programme.