3: Yagur Loop

Trail Narrative
Go south toward the mountain from the parking area near the horse stables and go through a gate that has the Israel Trail Tri color blaze (orange blue and white) and a sign that has the green blaze and says “נשר” - Nesher. Right after the gate there will be a junction of three trails: The Israel trail and the red trail which go to the left (southeast) and the green trail which goes to the right (southwest). Take the green trail.  It goes steadily up the side of the mountain, after about an hour of hiking, when you can see the Nesher concrete plant and two large ponds down below to the north, you will see the blaze for the black trail on your left (south). Take this trail which zigs back the other way. After about 45 minutes of hiking, and several more zigzags on the black trail (and amazing view of cliffs) you will notice that all the traffic noise is gone because there is now a ridge between you and the Haifa Bay area below. Soon after this the black trail meets a blue trail. Take the blue trail to your right (west) and in about a minute you will reach a dirt road (green trail) and a nice picnic area with running water and a bathroom. Enjoy a lovely picnic and the peace and quiet of this area.
     Go back to the dirt road, stand with your back to the way you came up and go left (southeast) on the dirt road. After about 10 minutes you will see a junction with a black blaze pointing down the mountain. This path joins the Israel Trail and goes directly back to Yagur. Ignore that trail and continue on the dirt road, enjoy the stillness and the deep forests above and below. After about 45 minutes you will reach the red trail which crosses the dirt road. Go left (northwest) down the stairs into the narrow ravine where you will be walking in a dry river bed. This is the challenging part of the hike so make sure that you have at least three hours before dark when you start down and that the weather is not wet.
     After about 2 hours depending on how many breaks you take you will come to a junction with a blue trail going to the right (south). You have now reached the end of the Nahal Yagur and the difficult part of the hike, however there is still some walking to do. The red trail now goes up a shoulder of the mountain. Make sure that you look back the way you came - Nahal Yagur is an impressive gorge! The climb up is quite steep and there are loose rocks which make it slippery. Then it goes steeply down and you will soon join the Israel trail and see a gate leading to Kibbutz Yagur. Go through the gate and turn left (east). After a few minutes walking you will be back at the parking lot where you started.