SAUDI ARABIA

JUMP TO: MOUNTAIN TRIPS IN SAUDI ARABIA

As the last country in the world to embrace tourism, Saudi Arabia has finally opened up its doors. While up until recently you could only visit this mysterious kingdom as a Muslim pilgrim or with business or family connections, as of late 2018 it’s finally been possible to enter the country as a simple “tourist”. I got my chance to visit Saudi Arabia when I joined the Rakayib Camel Caravan in February 2019, an expedition to cross the Empty Quarter on camel back over a distance of 620 km in four strenuous weeks. After this trek I decided to spend a few more weeks in the country to revisit the beautiful Najran area in the south where I had once lived as a kid. Saudi Arabia’s southern Najran and Asir regions boast some of the highest and most beautiful mountains in the whole kingdom. Of course I had to explore these as well!

For hikers and mountaineers, Saudi Arabia can be a difficult destination. There are no hiking guidebooks or hiking maps and very few marked trails exist in a country of this size – Saudi Arabia is six times bigger than Germany – and it is generally very difficult to get information on hiking routes etc., with few exceptions. I had pretty much zero information on almost every Saudi mountain I climbed, and only in a rare cases was there an actual hiking trail leading to the top. For many of my trips I had to spend almost as much time gathering information from the locals as on the actual climb itself. What’s the name of this beautiful mountain I see from the road? How do I best access it? Is there a trail? Where do I park? Do I need permission from landowners? In terms of logistics, if you want to go anywhere or climb anything, you’ll have to do everything yourself!

On the other hand, the scarcity of information and lack of facilities is also a big blessing. The mountainous areas of Saudi Arabia’s deep south are of rugged charm and pristine beauty. Mountain tourism pretty much does not exist, so almost anywhere you go will be completely uncrowded and untouched by outsiders. What makes these places uniquely special, however, are the people. The locals are incredibly friendly and welcoming , everywhere I went I was overwhelmed by the amazing hospitality extended to me. As the country opens up and outside visitors become more common things are inevitably going to change and one can only hope that any adverse impact on nature and people will be as limited as possible. For now, the mountains of Saudi Arabia’s south are an explorer’s dream and a nature lover’s heaven. In the few weeks I spent in the area the most enjoyable trips for me were Jabal Kufar and Jabal Anthari, both difficult scrambles located near Habuna/Al Harshaf, and Jabal Sawda, a straightforward on-trail hike near Abha. The latter used to be considered Saudi Arabia’s tallest mountain, but recent investigations determined that another mountain, Jabal Ferwa, is actually higher and the country’s tallest. Really short and sweet hikes (2 hours or less) I did include Raoum near Najran, Al Haylah near Muhayil, and White Mountain near Bisha. Other hikes documented here are Jabal Hada and Jabal Durum, both near Muhayil, and Jabal Natfa and Jabal Mushrif near Al Harajah.

Gallery of trip reports 

Here are all the trip reports I’ve written up for my mountain hikes/climbs in Saudi Arabia:

Al Haylah Small volcanic hill overlooking Muhayil

Jabal Anthari Empty mountains and incredible hospitality

Jabal Durum Detours and bushwhacks

Jabal Ferwa & Jabal Natfa Atop Saudi Arabia’s highest peak

Jabal Hada A hot, dusty and sweaty hike up an unknown mountain

Jabal Kufar Towering fortress guarded by vertical cliffs

Jabal Mushrif Volcanic basalt cone

Jabal Sawda Awesome on-trail hike to Saudi Arabia’s second highest summit

Raoum Hiking under the watchful eye of the Saudi security services

White Mountain Scrambling up a giant pile of quartz

Overview of trip stats 

A detailed list of trip statistics in a sortable table: