Please everywhere you hike take out MORE than you bring in!
Hike 1: Tirat Carmel, past the Oranit and Sefunit caves, through Nachal Sefonim to Rt. 4 where there is the Nachal Sefonim bus stop.
(follow the link for an online map of the hike)
| Hiking Time | 4.5 hours |
Blaze | Red |
Trail # | 4174 |
Difficulty | Medium: small amount of rock climbing, few heights. |
Type of trail | Mostly single file path, a few short sections on 4x4 type dirt roads |
Highlights | The Oranit caves and the Sefunit bat caves. Great views. Areas where it feels you have left civilization behind. |
Problems | The trail is hard to follow after the first dirt road. Go straight up through the area that is over grown with old burnt trees. Soon you will see a gate with the red blaze on it. Then on the next dirt road turn left. Keep going straight until you see a clear blaze pointing right and down hill. |
Cleaniness | Most of the trail is litter free. There were two areas with some trash. The first was around the Oranite caves, and the second was the lower area of the Sefunit ravine. |
Dec. 2010 Fire | Red trail past the Oranite caves in the Oranite ravine was in the fire. |
Remember to take out MORE than you bring in.
Trail narrative:
Find the sign indicating the beginning of the Red Trail which says “Wadi Oranit, Oranit & Sefunit caves”. From there follow the red blazes up the ridge. The trail goes on the right side of the ridge and then steeply up to a cliff. Follow the trail to the left (north) around the cliff. Climb on to the ledge and admire the view. Follow the trail through the cave and climb down out of the cave on the other side of the mountain. Now follow the narrow path east on the edge of Nahal Oranite below. Gradually the trail makes its way down into the middle of Nahal Oranite and then climbs its way through dense vegetation up the dry river bed all the way to the top of the mountain. Enjoy the amazing views. The trail will become a 4x4 road for a brief time, but then again is a single file path. Then you will be in an area of dense bushes and saplings among the remnants of burnt trees. Here there are no blazes. Simply go straight up towards the south on what ever trail you can find. Soon you will see the trail blaze on the top of a gate. Follow it to a dirt road. Turn left (east) on the road and follow it until you see a red blaze on the right of the road leading you down. Follow the trail down hill towards the west. Admire the amazing views of the sea! Eventually you will come to a junction with a green trail going up. Follow the red trail down and east into the dry river bed of the Sefunit ravine. After about 1 km you will come to the blue trail going up towards the south. Follow it for a few minutes until you reach the Sefunit bat caves. Then you can either go back to the red trail and an easy 15 minute walk out of the ravine, or you can climb down the blue trail which is a bit more difficult. Both end up in the same place. (Don’t climb up the blue trail that takes you on a long 2 hour loop). Once you are out of the ravine walk past the old disused quarry, through a gate (make sure to close it behind you) past the banana plantations on your right until you reach Rt. 4.
Getting to the trail and back:
By Bus:
Take Bus 45 or 47 from the Haifa Central Bus Station to Tirat Carmel. You will get off after twelve stops at Sheshet ha-Yamim 4. From there walk about 600 meters to the start of the hike at Munheim park. (follow the link for an online map)
At the end of the hike take any of the buses (202,221,947…) that stop at the Nachal Sefonim bus stop on Rt. 4 back to Haifa.
By Car: two cars necessary
Drive first to the Nachal Sefonim bus stop on Rt. 4 and leave one car there. There is limited parking, but it is rarely full. Then with the second car drive to Munheim park on Ezra Laniado Street in Tirat Carmel to begin your hike. (follow the link for an online map)
Pictures from the trail.
Red trail blaze on gate
Trail through wadi
View from the top
