This is my day-by-day itinerary for the Israel National Trail! Where we walked to each day and what we did for accommodation. Hopefully, this list of the Israel National Trail day by day will give you a rough guide in terms of options and distance. Although I recommend trying to walk it at your own pace – adapting the days as you go to fit your needs and preferences.
When hiking the Israel National Trail, we mostly followed the structure set out in the Israel National Trail Red Book . Our designated rest days were different though, mostly as we based them around having family and friends to stay with or interesting places we wanted to visit.
We are keen campers so barely used the trail angels although you could easily do most of the north and central section without needing a tent. For the dessert section, I’ve noted where I got water from.
Rest days are in red.
By the way…
I wrote a book about hiking the Israel National Trail!!! It’s called Three Stripes South and is the inspirational story of completing this trail and how it changed my life. Get your copy now!
Itinerary for the Israel National Trail
Day 1: Camped in the woods west of Kiryat Shemona
Day 2: Camped next to trail near Nahal Dishon nature reserve
Day 3: Camped in designated camp area H. Humeima just before Mt. Neria
Day 4: Camped near the spring (drity, lots of noisy people all night) Ein Koves (Blue trail up from Naham Amud)
Day 5: Camped on the top of Mount Arbel (Overlooking Galilee)
Day 6: Stayed in friends house in Kibbutz Degania B
Day 7: Rest day with a friend in Kibbutz Degania B
Day 8: Stayed in and open ‘warehouse’ maintained by trail angels in Kefar Kisch
Day 9: Camped in the woods opposite the supermarket in Mount Yona
Day 10: Meant to camp in the ruins of Hanezirim Mill but full of motorbikes and locals so walked to the woods west of Nofit and camped on a flat section next to the dry riverbed (it was a bit rocky so took a while to find a good spot)
Day 11: Camped at the top of Mt Carmel in bench area at Forester’s wood
Day 12: Stayed in Gils family home (family came to collect us from Shfeya junction and dropped us back on Day 15)
Day 13: Rest day with family in Zichron Yaakov
Day 14: Rest day with family in Zichron Yaakov
Day 15: Camped on beach Tel Afar
Day 16: Camped on the beach near Natanya (nicer than the bench area near the train station)
Day 17: Stayed in a friends house, just of the trail near Park Yarkon
Day 18: Stayed with trail angel (the Pearl) family in Mazor (note, their house is quite a walk from the tail)
Day 19: Got a bus from Modi’in Lookout, 20 min direct to Abraham Hostel.
Day 20: Rest day in Tel Aviv. Stayed at Abraham Hostel.
Day 21: Camped in a nice bench area in Ein Messila
Day 22: Camped by Ein Tamar on a good flat area. There are rats in the area so keep all your items inside your tent.
Day 23: Stayed with a friend overnight, collected us from Tel Azeka Junction and dropped us back the next day.
Day 24: Family came to collect us from Beit Guvrin national park and dropped us back day 26
Day 25: Rest day with family
Day 26: Camped in a small wooded area west of Tel Keshet. Very quiet and peaceful.
Day 27: Camped in bench area outside Dvira. Disturbed in night by a group drinking and smoking.
Day 28: Camped next to road in woods east of Mount Hiran
Day 29: Meant to camp in Tel Arad but very pricey and you don’t get much for your money. Instead we camped in a bench area in Arad Park. Made for a very short walk into Arad the next day.
Day 30: Stayed at Dead Sea Adventure Hostel. An easy 15 minute walk from the trail.
Day 31: Rest Day. Stayed at Dead Sea Adventure Hostel.
Day 32 (31 in blog): Camped at Be’er Efa NC. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 33: Was meant to camp at Metzad NC Tamar. next to a quarry but was dirty and disgusting, moved on and camped outside the area. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 34: Camped at Makhtesh Katan NC – large group camping there, moved on down the dirt road, flat section next to road away from the noisy children. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 35: Camped at Oron NC outside factory. Was very noisy throughout the night and was sleeping in a dust cloud. Running water available here.
Day 36: Camped at Mador NC. Very nice campsite, little shade. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 37: Stayed with a friend in Kibbutz Sde Boker. Ordered a jeep from Akev NC to save us the additional hike to the Kibbutz as was very tired.
Day 38: Rest day. Stayed with a friend at Kibbutx Sde Boker.
Day 39: Camped at Hava NC. Very nice campsite. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 40: Camped at Mitzpe Ramon Field School who let hikers stay for free. Running water, toilets and lots of deer!
Day 41: Camped at Gevanim NC. There was a large noisy organised group there but also rangers in the area so no other options for camping. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 42: Camped at Tzvira NC. Beautiful and isolated campsite. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped at the previous NC, Gev Holit, but decided to do extra miles as we had covered the distance quickly.
Day 43: Stayed at the Spice Route Khan bedouin camp. 50NIS for a bed in a sharked bedouin tent. Good shower and kitchen facilities.
Day 44: Rest day. Stayed at the Spice Route Khan bedouin camp
Day 45: Camped at Barak NC. Nice flat circle areas for tents, was popular with locals.
Day 46: Camped at Tzihor NC. Nice area although a little close to the road. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 47: Stayed at Neot Smadar, a Kibbutz. They take in hikers and feed you 3 meals a day in return for a days work. It was interesting to see the place and the food was delicious but it is worth noting it is a long tough days work!
Day 48: ‘Rest day’ (or rather work day) at Neot Smadar Kibbutz
Day 49: Camped south of Shaharut outside the Eilat Massive nature reserve. Was a wild camping spot so had 2 days worth of water.
Day 50: Camped in Raham Etek NC after Timna Park. Very nice spot. We collect water at the entrance of Timna Park.
Day 51: Camped at Mount Yehoram NC. Surrounded by a road but has nice mountains in the background. Had arranged for water caching to be dropped here.
Day 52: Arrived in Eilat at Coral Beach. You have to pay entry here but if you take a left and walk 200m you will get to a nice, free beach where you can go in for a celebratory swim. We stayed the night in the Shelter (a bus ride and short walk from the beach). They give 1 free night to everyone who completes the trail. Note that it is a religious hostel so your stay will come with a free bible and an invitation to join a service (you don’t have to participate!).
For more information on the Israel National Trail, make sure you also read:
- An honest review of the Israel National Trail
- A complete guide to the Israel National Trail
- 22 tips for long distance hiking
- How much does it cost to hike the Israel National Trail?
Do you have any other questions about doing the INT that I haven’t answered? Just let me know in the comment box below.
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Hello, thank you for all this information! It is hard to find an itinerary with such detail on the internet. We are planning a trip there at the beginning of March. We only have 5 to 7 days for the walk and we would love to see some remote desert areas. Which part would you recommend us? Thank you.
Thanks! I’d recommend leaving from Arad and then crossing the ‘small crater’. This is a really beautiful and varied stretch of the trail. I’d also suggest checking out the section after Mitzpe Ramon!
Hi Bex, brilliant information. Thank you for taking the time to write all this down so clearly. I am considering doing the INT Apr-May 2020 solo (needs must, I don’t know anyone else who would want to do it). I have done long distance in the UK and Spain (parts of the Camino de Frances) but nothing like the 1000km in a oner. Q: Do ancients (I will be 62) do the INT desert section, especially solo? Also, what likelihood being attacked by snake or scorpion ( I read about the boot-emptying procedure) or ending up in quicksand (as the poor young Bedu did in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ when crossing the Sinai)? Much thanks.
No problem at all Nick.
lol – absolutely. I’ve met many ‘ancients’ doing the trek both solo and with others. If the trek ever gets too tiring you could always stop for a bit, find a base in the desert and do day hikes instead. I really think you can do it though if you’ve done long-distance treks in the UK and Spain. I heard many Israelis saying they’d never do a trek in the UK as the weather is so unpredictable and tough. You just need to make sure you are drinking lots and taking it slow.
I never saw a scorpion and only a couple of snakes at a distance (they ran away quickly when they saw me coming). It’s not something you need to worry about, you just need to be aware of. The snakes are far more venomous and prevalent in the States. I’ve also never heard of there being quicksand in the area and definitely never came across any. The trail is well-trodden and marked out so you can trust it is safe and won’t lead you to anywhere where you’ll get into difficulties.
I hope that helps. Let me know if any more questions crop up! 🙂
Hi. Nice info. I am planning doing the hike next year(!) at least from Eilat to Arad. I am having a little trouble finding information on where to resupply food. Can you remember where you resupplied, espacially in the southern part of the stretch. And question2: Did you use a cooking-stove with propane/gas or other solutions (sometimes in remote areas it can be difficult to re-supply/find propane if you´re out of it.). Kind regards Michel (Denmark)
I’d really recommend ordering a copy of the Israel National Trail Red Book as it lists all the places you can resupply. There are garage stations and the odd town en route. Some stretches we had to carry 6 days worth of food so it’s important you have the maps so you can plan this in advance. We had a gas stove and it was easy to resupply as the shops are used to hikers passing so usually stock them. We also paid Yanir (who did our water drops) a little bit extra to leave us some extra tins and sweets with the water….much appreciated after a day of hiking!
Hope that helps.
Hi Bex, nice review. I have a question regarding water in Negev desert. Are there any springs, pools on the way? I did desert trek in Jordan from Petra to Aqaba. Water was really scarce there and I survived with water purification pills. I really do not want to depend on water caching. Thanks
Thanks! You have to use water caching, there’s no way around it. There’s so few springs in the Negev and the few we did pass were really stagnant and you couldn’t drink from them even with purification.
Hi Bex this is great information = thank you. I am doing the trail in March and April next year. My intention is to walk alone. Do you think it is safe for a 62 year old woman? I am pretty fit and strong and know Israel well though. Also do you think it better to walk south to north as by the end of April it may be hot south? It feels logical to start north intuitively.
You’re welcome!
It’s hard to comment on female safety but personally I didn’t run into any trouble or witness (or have heard from others) anything that would make me warn against lone women hiking the trail.
In terms of hiking safety it sounds like you are fit and experienced.
April is the cut off for hiking in the desert so as long as you complete the hike by May there shouldn’t be a problem going North to South. I’d recommend this way as you acclimatise and build up to the tougher desert stretches.
Good luck!! I recently published my book about hiking the trail and it’s making me want to go back!