Anyone planning to hike the Israel National Trail in the North will need to prepare for a change in the route: Starting on Tuesday, two sections of the trail in the Tel Hai and Kfar Giladi area will be closed for a period of about eight months due to construction work on a pedestrian bridge. During the construction period, hikers will be directed to an alternative route that passes over the Ramim Ridge.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Upper Galilee Regional Council updated that the change is required due to the construction of the "Kfar Giladi-Tel Hai Suspension Bridge," south of the entrance to Kfar Giladi.
During the works, passage will not be possible on the trail between the Kfar Giladi cemetery and the Moshe Statue in the Wounded Trail area. In addition, the section passing beneath the bridge in Wadi Hashomer in Tel Hai will also be closed to hikers for safety reasons.
This is what the alternative route will look like
Hikers walking from north to south will be required to turn west at the northern exit from Kiryat Shmona, onto the Songs Promenade parallel to Route 90, slightly before the Tel Hai Courtyard Museum. From there, they will continue on a gentle descent into the olive grove of Kibbutz Kfar Giladi.
After about 200 meters, hikers must leave the grove and begin an ascent on a cattle trail up the Ramim Ridge. At the end of the steep but short ascent, the trail connects to a wide gravel path leading to an engineering structure located on the original route of the Israel National Trail.
The Israel National Trail: From Mount Hermon to Eilat
The Israel National Trail was inaugurated by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel in 1995 and stretches over approximately 1,100 kilometers, from Mount Hermon to Eilat. The trail is marked in white, blue, and orange, and is divided into 56 sections that can be hiked continuously or separately, on long or short routes.
Responsibility for marking and maintaining the trail rests with the Trail Marking Team of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
For more information and updates on the Israel National Trail route