HaBsor Route
Around 18 km of scenic routes paved with the help of the KKL-JNF between the HaBsor National Park (Eshkol Park) and Kibbutz Tze’elim. The road passes through a nature reserve.
Recommended Season: All year round (in Winter and Spring the sights are simply spectacular).
Region/Nearby Settlements: Kibbutz Magen in the North, and Kibbutz Tze’elim in the South.
Difficulty level: Low – Medium.
Tour Duration: About half a day.
General information:
The route is 18 km long, suitable for any vehicle.
There is no drinking water along the route. Therefore, it is recommended to stock up beforehand.
The route description is from north to south, from Road 241 (there is a signpost for Derech HaBsor), but it can also be driven in the opposite direction.
Main sites along the route:
At its beginning, the dirt road passes through the Loess Cliffs. You can see Eshkol Park and the stream’s ravine on the left. Continue south to reach the dirt embankment which carried the railway from Rafah to Be’er Sheva, which was laid out by the British during WWI. The remnants of the concrete bridge where the train crossed the river are located in the riverbed. There’s a track section reconstruction and a train car on the opposite bank.
Continue driving slowly south, enjoying the vast spaces and admiring the agricultural crops. Just opposite Ein HaBesor you can spot a towering hill. This is the Sharuhen Mound. It is recommended to park and walk up the mound. The mound offers an archeological site and a spectacular lookout over the Western Negev plains.
Our journey continues south, reaching Be’er Revuva. The place is quite visible due to the abundance of Tamarix, Palm, Carob and Sycamore trees.
Return to Derech HaBsor, and after a short drive, you will notice numerous orchards planted in recent years as part of an agricultural project titled “Negev of Growth.” These orchards are irrigated by the Shafdan waters collected in HaBsor reservoirs.
You have now reached the Reservoir Region – and can easily see the floodgate, built across the creek, meant to stop floodwaters and divert them to a side reservoir, from which the water is then pumped and transferred to the two reservoirs along Derech HaBsor.
Our next stop on Derech HaBsor is the longest suspension bridge in Israel. The 80m bridge stretches between the two banks of the ravine and above a natural pool of water that is full all year round. Beyond the bridge on the loess cliff, there is a monument commemorating two members of Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh, who were killed at this place in an ATV accident.
From here, we will continue for a few more minutes and reach the exit to road 222. Our trip ends here, but only after we stop to climb an observation tower from which we can see the HaBsor stream and its ravines.
