Hit the road on Sukkot

September 22, 2010 - 9:20 AM by

View from the top: the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway

The Jewish festival of Sukkot begins tonight and, 25 hours later, the country heads to the highways. Seemingly the entire state of Israel can be found outside, lounging at the beach, barbecuing at a national park, or hiking the Israel Trail.

The reason is called hol ha moed – the days in-between the start and end of the 8-day Sukkot holiday – where there’s no school in sight and many employers give their staff half-day holidays.

Over the past several months, I’ve written about a number of wonderful tiyulim that Israelis – and visitors to Israel – can traipse, often with the whole family. Now, as hints of cooler weather poke their cloudy heads through the perennial sunshine, I want to share one last hike for hol ha moed.

This one, which starts on the famed Burma Road, is a little bit on the tough side, so hopefully you’ll avoid some of the crowds. Nevertheless, get out early to avoid the gridlock that stops traffic cold by noon.

The Burma Road holds a critical historical role in helping besieged Jerusalem survive the Arab stranglehold on the city in the 1948 War of Independence. With the main highway to Jerusalem blocked to Jewish convoys, Israeli forces constructed a clandestine bypass route that kept the city from starving.

The route for this tiyul starts at the parking lot and picnic area near the Paz Gas station on road 38 (just off the exit from Highway 1, the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway).

The hike isn’t actually on the Burma Road itself – you turn off fairly quickly onto the Israel Trail which parallels the famous path and which is now a well-traveled Jeep trail (not so fun for walkers).

The first hour and a half of the hike is an intense climb up to the village of Beit Meir with little shade except for some rest stops with breathtaking views of the entire region, from the Mediterranean Sea to the foothills of Jerusalem.

From the summit, it’s all down hill as the path plunges into a thick forest, heading steeply into the Kessalon Ravine before bottoming out at the Bnei Brith Cave. This walk is treacherous – the route is slippery and blocked by fallen trees in several spots.

This whole section is known as the Martyrs’ Forest and is built to symbolize specific events during the Holocaust (the steep sides of the valley are supposed to recollect the ravine at Babi Yar).

Hikers have the option of continuing on the Israel Trail towards Shoeva and Kibbutz Tzova, or cutting out early at Eshtaol, ending up back on road 38 near Beit Shemesh. We opted for the latter and caught a taxi back to our car a few kilometers away.

Jacob Solomon wrote a series of articles about hikes along the Israel Trail in The Jerusalem Post back in 2005. The erstwhile hiker provides great detail, covering every twist and turn, flora and fauna, and historical sites along the way. It was his article on the Burma Trail and Martyr’s Forest that set us in the right direction. Here’s a link to a complete archive of his pieces.

Tags: , , , , • Category: History and Culture, Religion, Travel 

Comments

3 Comments on Hit the road on Sukkot

  1. Trek of the month: Park Rabin | ISRAELITY on Sat, Feb 26th 2011 9:00 PM

    2. [...] a steep ascent with a spectacular view towards Jerusalem from the same parking lot up to Beit Meir. More on that here.) Share with [...]

  2. Trek of the month: Park Rabin on Wed, Mar 9th 2011 11:31 AM

    3. [...] a steep ascent with a spectacular view towards Jerusalem from the same parking lot up to Beit Meir. More on that here on the Israelity blog, and also on Aviv’s [...]

  3. Aviv’s Bar Mitzvah Blog Chronicles our Trip to Nepal on Thu, Jul 28th 2011 8:52 AM

    4. [...] Tiyul #6 – The Burma Road (Hit the Road on Sukkot) on Israelity [...]

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