Route map
Type: Circular
Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 6 km
Waze coordinates to start/end point: 32.547747, 34.954038
Notes:
- Beat the heat and crowds by getting as early a start as possible!
- Little to no shade
- Well-marked trail
- Good for kids who can walk and dogs
I first encountered this short hike when I hiked the Israel National Trail. Since hiking the INT, I have done this portion of it at least four times. It is a GEM! It is in a beautiful area near Zichron Yakov, it’s easy and has a LOT of really interesting and impressive ruins to see as well as an amazing lookout off the top of the hill (marked on map in link above) which is a great place to stop for a snack.
You will know you have parked your car in the right place if you can see this ship. It is plonked next to a parking lot and near the ORT Binyamina school.
Keeping the ship on your left, walk a short distance slightly uphill on a wide gravel road towards a barrier and look for the INT trail markings which are white/blue/orange.
Once you have walked around the barrier, follow the INT trail signs to your right. This will almost immediately take you through a magically lush, green wonderland and over a little bridge that spans a rivulet of water. You might even spot a duck on this pond like I did.
We had begun our hike at 7:00 am and it was shaping up to be a hot day. But there were still a wild variety of flowers in bloom even so late in the spring.
Only 338 meters from the hike start there is an area with picnic tables under massive shade trees. Don’t stop here unless you must. At the 2.6 km point, there is a better place for a rest and a snack. This spot is indicated on the map in the link at the beginning of this post.
Next to this picnic area, you will find impressive remains of a Roman bath house complex with explanations on plaques as well as a natural spring that fed the bath house and provided water for agriculture in the area. The bathhouse was built in the 1st century BC and was used until the end of the Great Revolt in 70 AD.
The source of the natural spring lies inside that cave. You can go into the cave up to a certain point. The water flows year round, through this partially covered channel……
….and still trickles into a very large, square swimming pool which is now choked with grass but where steps down into the pool can be clearly seen.
There is another very small, square pool near the bath house ruins where those who are so inclined/equipped can dip, although I’ve never done it.
Near the cave from which the spring emanates, look for more INT trail signs and carry on up a short flight of stairs and a bit further up the hill just above the swimming pool. You will see the ruins of a columbarium which was a round tower that was built in ancient times and stood 8-10 meters high. The relic discovered here was the base of the tower. The pigeons entered the tower through openings at the top and nested in small internal niches. Their excrement was used to fertilize the fields, their flesh and eggs were eaten, and they were also used for ritual purposes.
Another few meters up the hill you will come to Beit Huri, the remains of a small village from the Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine period, including residential complexes and the remains of a stable.
You can’t go far in the north without encountering cattle.
After passing Beit Huri, the terrain levels out…..
…..until you reach the crowning glory of this hike – Hurvat Akev. “Hurva” in Hebrew means “ruin”. Hurvat Akev is the remains of a 2nd century Byzantine farmhouse. There are good, descriptive signs all over this site which explain what you are looking at and what it was once used for. The farmhouse consisted of two floors surrounding a large courtyard. On the lower floor were warehouses with retaining walls in which there were windows.
In close proximity to the house is a winepress and a threshing floor. The round, standing stone would have been used to grind grain or possibly olives or grapes. The picnic table under the large tree is a perfect place for a break. From there you have an amazing view off the western side of the Carmel Mountains, out over the coast road, past the village of Jisr a-Zarka and out to sea. The air here is amazing even on a hot day. Those Byzantines knew the axiom “Location, location, location!”
The threshing floor.
You really cannot take many steps on this hike without discovering more and more antiquities which are sure to impress.