Route type: Circular
Difficulty level: Easy
Distance: 9.7 km
Google Maps to start/end point
Notes:
- Good for dogs.
- Most of the paths in this forest are bike trails. Be prepared to jump out of the way of bikers and motorbikers.
This forest is located between Road 6 and Road 444. It is criss-crossed with many paths and bike trails and was the perfect destination to pull up when a hike close to home was needed.
This trail doesn’t have a lot of “wow” to it. It was just a nice, pleasant, easy hike over rolling terrain. It wasn’t extreme or technical – no climbing involved. Just one of those where you can relax and go “ahhhhhh”. (If we could have turned off the traffic noise, it would have been even better.)
It was so green this time of year that it was kind of a shock to the system.
We came upon a glade full of squill popping up everywhere!
Beehives. We marched by at a respectful distance.
L U X U R Y!
Did I say this hike had no wow factor? I lied.
We came upon a 5th century (Byzantine) field church – the Church of Saint Bacchus – which was excavated in 1995. The structure combines a field church and an olive press.
What is a field church? It is a church that is built outside of a settlement. This church was constructed between Horvat Tinshemet in the west and another contemporary settlement that was situated near where the modern day town of Shoham is located today.
I don’t often see these. Spring will be here before we know it. Blink and you’ll miss it!
