The Nahal El Al Nature Reserve is about half an hour from the Sea of Galilee, making for an excellent day hike. There are two waterfalls at the nature reserve: The White Waterfall and the Black Waterfall.
They are both popular with hikers and during the summer it gets busy as people come here to cool down in the lake at the base of each of the waterfalls.
Hiking in the Nahal El Al Nature Reserve in Israel can be challenging if you are not used to the heat, but otherwise the elevations are relatively mild and you will be compensated by the amazing views on either side of the trail.
I drove to the head of the El Al Trail near Kibbutz Eliad after a night at Yehudiya National Park. This walk took me across the El Al Nature Reserve towards the White and Black Waterfalls. The White Waterfall is named for its white limestone rocks. It is near to Eliad, about an hours walk away from the car park at the head of the trail.
The Black Waterfall got its name after the black rocks that line the stream and it is closer to Avnei Eitan, the other end of the stream.
The nature reserve is a pretty amazing place, with the water flowing in the streams under your feet, surrounded by reed everywhere. I felt like flying back to biblical times as I was getting closer to the White Waterfall – it was quite fascinating!
Although I started to walk from Eliad and was planning for an all-day hike, I did not make it all the way to the Black Waterfall as it was too hot by the time I got to the White Waterfall.
Also, unfortunately a quite large family was chasing me and there was already a family down at the White Waterfall so my plan of spending a few hours there on my own never materialized.
Even if you walk only halfway, you will see some gorgeous scenery such as the cliffs on either side of the valley and the lush green reed along the banks of the stream.
The problem with walking all the way to the Black Waterfall is that either you then walk all the way back to the car or wait for a bus to take you to Eliad. In the end I decided against either of those options and turned back.
Instead I went down to the Sea of Galilee and spent the rest of the day there sunbathing and swimming in the lake. On the way to the Sea of Galilee I drove past the Omri Tal Lookout, which provides amazing vistas over the Sea of Galilee.
Fortunately the traffic wasn’t too heavy so I could take it easy and roll down the window and take in the scenery. I arrived at the Sea of Galilee early afternoon and spent the rest of the day sunbathing and swimming in the water before I drove to Beit Alfa, a nearby Kibbutz.