Running in north Israel

I’m writing this post as a great deal of sadness overwhelms me realizing i won’t see much of sunshine for a very long time and i’ll miss so much all those beautiful places i’ve been hiking and running in the last two and a half weeks. Despite living almost all my life in Israel, each time i visit back home i’m amazed by its beauty (especially at this time of the year) and excited to discover new places i haven’t been too . I’ve already written about the ‘wineries’ race which i’ve been so happy to be part of but i’d like to share also some of the beautiful running trails i’ve had the pleasure to run through in the last two weeks. As i live in the northern part of the country , which is in my opinion the most beautiful one , all the trails described below are in the northern part of Israel.

• Rosh Hanikra-Achziv

so many times i’ve visited this beautiful place since early childhood and yet, this time i ran there for the first. I started from the the top of Rosh Hanikra grottoes, (right at the northern border with Lebanon) and continued until Achziv beach and back. In total, this run is about 13km and it can be even continued further south. I ran twice this trail during my visit and this is definitely one of my favorites. Both times it was right after the rain so it was a perfect time to see the rainbow and the high waves shattering onto the rocks. The run itself is quite easy (i ran on the road next to the beach and not on the beach itself) while the only ‘obstacle’ is the strong wind in case it's very windy out there. It was a pure delight to run while watching the turquoise water, flowers and fields near the beach and the northern mountains on the other side. Accompanied by plenty of sea-gulls i could not have asked for a better run for a rainy day:). I’d especially recommend this run for someone looking for a relaxing recovery run.

Rosh Hanikra from above

• Along Haifa beach

As you might have guessed alreay, growing almost all my life near the sea, i enjoy very much running on beaches especially during sunsets or in the mornings. This lovely trail, follows the southern Haifa beach from Bat-Galim beach until the end of ‘Dado beach’ along beautiful and peaceful promenade. It passes along ‘Tel Shikmona’ nature reserve (the path is called Shikmona promenade) and Hecht park. I ran there twice about 10K (forth and back) and in both times i had a great time. It’s a good run especially for someone looking for a speedy workout although the path might be quite crowded at some points as the promenade is full of coffee shops, bars and sitting areas along ‘Dado beach’. The best moment was enjoying a cold ice-cream after the run while sunbathing in front of the beach :).

Haifa beach on a sunny day

• Zarzir-Nahal Tzipori- Alon Hagalil

This nice trail i found to be so pleasant and different from my typical running trails. It passes though mainly green-fields and forests, Tzipori river, and it goes mainly though a wide path for mountain cyclists so it’s quite easy to run and it’s almost flat. I was almost alone there accompanied mostly by few farmers but probably the trail is much more occupied during weekends. I started in Zarzir gas station, and followed first the path along Tzipori river near the small communal settlement Shimshit, then i retrieved my steps and continued towards Alon Hagalil and back to Zarziir. I managed to get a bit lost there due to unfortunate mistake so i ran about 20km. But this run should be around 13km more or less. It’s really good one for someone looking for easy and yet peaceful and nice trail run in the nature away from civilization.

Running near Alon Hagalil

The trail map

• Around Nofit

Nofit is a communal settlement not far from Haifa, in the lower Galilee. It’s very small (only about 700 families live there) but what’s special about it is that it is surrounded by one of the most beautiful sceneries in the northern part of Israel. I visited there on my previous visit in April but that time i went for a hike which started in Nofit and continued towards Tzipori river. I was so impressed by the views i saw i decided to come back but now simply for running. I ran on Shvil Ohad’ which is a trail circulating Nofit and was built in the memory of the soldier Ohad Zach who died in Lebanon in 1998.

Although the path is only about 2.5 km , it’s heaven for runners since not only does it offer magnificent views, it has a lot of up and down hills, thus, it’s great for interval/hills running. I ran the trails about 4 times and was not feeling bored even once…great technical run and very much recommended.

The view from Nofit

• Beit Oren- mount Shokef

Last but not least, this nice trail begins at the Carmel mountain near kibbutz Beit Oren (Agam parking area). The area has been severely burnt during the big forest fire on December 2010 and is now gradually recovering. The trail first passes through crowded forest terrain but then it turns into a wide trail along Alon valley and finally a demanding climb on mount Shokef overlooking all the beautiful Carmel ridges. Great technical run for a sunny day.

Alon Valley

I also had several fantastic hikes on the mountains of north and south Galilee (Meron, Tavor and Gilboa nountains) … I can’t wait to go back again and try to run through them and also find more great running trails… the only 'probem' with running trail is that i have to stop too many times to take picturs, luckily, my GoPro is a great comppanion for this purpose.

it’s so nice that in such a small country one can find so many diverse trails for running: beaches, cliffs, mountains, forests, rivers , green-fields and so on. Can’t wait until my next visit:)