While I was climbing up, I would not stop thinking about my way down to the ground. Almost nine meters have passed and yet to reach the peak – a stunning spot for a picture.
National day is a celebration day in the UAE for everyone and a time to gather with loved ones. My friends and I decided to roam around Wadi Saham and hike mountains. Located in Fujairah, it is indeed a place for adventurous people and some of the best sights the Emirate has to offer.

Upon having had a heavy meal and some refreshments, a couple of hours later, it was time for a quick check-up. Power banks? Check. Cameras and drones? Check. Snacks and refreshments? Check. And most importantly, adrenalin is fully ahead.

I have never been hiking before and this was my first time ever knowing that I would be in the middle of the mountain that I had just seen while driving. And surprisingly, I found a bunch of people who are into hiking. A friend of mine among us is a professional hiker, taking the lead, though his boots are friend with rocks. He said, “Be aware and cautious, and all together, be enjoyed and energetic – we are about to walk 16 kilometers.” And snapped.

Hiking at Wadi Saham mountains has two levels, the easy trail for newcomers, and the hard one for those who are up for an adrenalin rush. The thrill kicked in when we passed the first 10 minutes, and certainly with a blast song playing to keep us active and, on our feet, we selected the hard trail.

The moment we went downhill, I had already started stumbling. Nevertheless, we were extremely helpful and looked after each other all the way. There were plenty of newcomers among us. And it was encouraging to observe them push themselves and accomplish this adventure.

The view from/within the mountains was such immersing, and stress-relieving. We came across plenty of beautiful sights that I wouldn’t normally be able to capture it. The high mountains of varying shades of colors, yellow, red, orange, and brown.

First-hand, our hike seemed moderate, surrounded by sharp and loose rocks, boulders, and a mix of ascent and descent steeps. Of course, our cameras got numerous shots for Instagram. In addition, we were approaching by many folks, including professionals and amateurs, and families alike.

After half an hour, I felt like I wanted to assess my fear throughout climbing. I told my friend; I want to be up there and get me a perfect shot – like he had been waiting for it. “He smiled and took off his backpack, grabbed my hand and started acting like me,” he said. As a beginner hiker, I was aware that it’s natural to have some fears and reservations. However, I also have eagerness and determination. After given instructions and guidelines with respect to our body movements, and also about how to step up and be balanced, using my legs and arms properly.

While I was climbing up, I would not stop thinking about my way down to the ground. Almost 9 meters have passed and yet to reach the peak – a stunning spot for a picture. Our professional hiker kept saying, “Don’t think, just keep going whenever I paused, thinking about how I would climb down back? Interestingly, I found another friend of ours who followed me and climbed too.

It seemed risky at first, but by putting my heel first and then my toe, it worked. Coupled with the right instructions and techniques, the constant boost of confidence and support from all of us made the climb seem easier, even for a newbie.

Wadi Saham has expansive, breathtaking, and majestic highlands that are a must-visit. As we hike up towards the peak, our hearts beat faster, and we were able to see the entire surrounding areas. Standing at the top gave us a bird’s eye view of the most picturesque view along with cool, refreshing air.

Hiking activity aside, we kept talking and singing, and taking a break every once in a while, for a bite and pictures alike. Further, three hours later on, our physical abilities started to alert us, yet we knew it and were determined to continue.

Each one of us including me was fatigued but didn’t want to showcase it. We tended to present ourselves as strong – and we are. Reflecting on the hike into our actual life, nevertheless, was our last 10-minute discussion. Our scope with this experience has a rich reflection towards a lot of lessons in daily routine, which forces to a betterment attitude and thinking.

On a personal note, my next hiking would be including both KSA and UAE flags next September to celebrate my country’s Saudi National Day. Till then, if I was to give a piece of advice on hiking, then it would be never think just keep going – thanks to my friend.

Author & Credits

Mohammed Thamer Alsulimani is a Saudi Editor and Media Executive at THC for Public Relations & Communications, Dubai. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from the University of Sharjah.

Rami Osama based in Fujairah, is a Social Media Producer and professional hiker. He is a member of the Fujairah Social & Cultural Association and works solely with the municipality to promote tourism and destinations. In addition to his current role as a Marketing Executive at Fujairah Adventure.

Contact: @ramy21_

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Wadi Naqab – Dubai hiking is a hot spot for outdoor enthusiasts in the UAE. Wadi Naqab is a multitude of hiking and off-roading destination. So this article is going to be pretty long and will be having lots of frequent updates.

This unique Wadi Naqab – Dubai hiking location provides a wide range of hike routes. There are couple of villages, wadis and trails around this Wadi Naqab area. Difficulty level for each of these also varies from hike to hike. So its recommended to choose the trails and do pretty good home work. Cellular network coverage is minimum, so use GPS and walkie-talkies if you are up to the toughest hikes in this region of Wadi Naqab – Dubai hiking.

Wadi Naqab – Dubai hiking – Hike to the red wall

Here is my short Gopro footage from my previous Hike.

You can watch this from youtube directly here using this youtube channel

Intro:

This is the most easiest hike trail in Wadi Naqab – Dubai hiking area. All you have to do is walk straight up the valley. There is clear nice trail along due to frequent visitors. Walk forward as much as you can and keep in mind that you will have to walk back all the way which you walked up. Its pitch black without sunlight and so quiet that you can hear you own heart beat.

Don’t do anything stupid like taking selfies from cliffs. It may look cool and there are plenty of tempting location for selfie-shoot. It dangerous and ambulance cannot reach these locations. you are far away from roads.

Trail Hike Location : Wadi Naqab, Ras Al Khaima, UAE

Level : Beginner / fitness level 100% good.

Recommended Gears :

Hiking shoe / runners with good grip,
Water min 2 liters,
food,
snacks,
chocolates

We do have a big list of things you might want to go through and you may found useful if you are really preparing to get going. Please refer out Hiking check list to have a quick look.

Recommended season : Winter.

Wadi Naqab – Dubai hiking is a fantastic off-road destination for a bit of everything. A classic (if rather short) wadi-bashing experience with different levels of challenge, great camping spots and viewpoints, this all-rounder also offers an abundance of opportunities to get up to elevation for rewarding hiking.

Ras Al Khaimah’s impressive Hajar Mountains lean from Wadi Naqab towards the sea, showing their many colours and formations.

Coordinates

Below is the google map link to the destination.

Reaching the starting point of the journey is bit tricky. If you have a 4 wheel drive you can cover most of the unpaved roads till the bottom of the mountain. If you don’t have a 4 wheel drive you can use your driving skill on your sedan car to reach as close as possible. I insist not to try any risky drive in the morning itself. You could spoil your entire Wadi Naqab trip.

The first point is the location where you will start basically the offroading. You will need to travel along the valley to the second map. If you have a good 4 wheeler you can starting using it or else you can start walking. Take your car only as far as you think its safe. Dont risk and push the drive.

The third oint given below is the red wall stop. You can stop here if you are a bigginer and return back. The rest can try to push through but not recomended as its highly risky.

Once you find nice good parking area you can park your car and gear up. After the parking you will have to travel approximately one kilometer to 2 kilometer through big round gravels and rocks. These pictures will give you an idea about the view that you may expect in early morning around 9 o’clock.

Once you find nice good parking area you can park your car and gear up. After the parking you will have to travel approximately one kilometer to 2 kilometer through big round gravels and rocks. These pictures will give you an idea about the view that you may expect in early morning around 9 o’clock.

You may still find some houses and farmlands nearby. You may also find some random goats and dogs. You don’t have to wonder if you find any local people there. You may also find some other trekking groups travelling along the same road.

The first 5km are through the wadi bed and up to a bat cave (with some scrambling you can go inside if you would like). After a short break and snacks we’ll start up a managed path with beautiful cliff views to an old settlement where we will have lunch.

Be prepared for surreal views! you need a 4wd to reach the starting point. nice hike, not very technical but need good level of fitness. some steep uphill ascend, but the view and village at the top made it worthwhile. good hiking boots with ankle protection are recommended.

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Wadi Showka in RAK is known to be one of the most popular places for hikers in UAE. It is known for its beautiful landscape as well as natural pools that are frequented by residents as well as tourists alike.

There are different routes and trails along this area. So Depending upon your fitness level and interest you can choose different routes.

This is an absolute plastic free area. If you get caught throwing trash fine is upto 2000 Dhs. So its better to keep the trashes in the bag itself.

1. Showka – Pools

This is going to be a easy hike with trekking over a mostly flat terrain, and anyone with basic fitness level should be able to do it.

The first pool is small and you can either walk through it or by pass it and continue the hike to reach the second pool, which is relatively deeper. You will need to either swim through it or turn back a little bit and climb a small hill to by pass it. I have not been to this hike in the current year so can’t really say for sure about the situation of the pools this year.

4X4s or AWDs with good ground clearance are needed to reach the final location at RAK. if you don’t have one, you will either need to find ride with a driver who does, or stop a couple of kilometers before the final meeting point and hitch a ride in a 4WD/AWD.

Total distance of the hike: Approximately 9KM (around 2-1/2 hours of total walking time at slow/ normal pace)

Mandatory list of items:

• Water,
• Food,
• High energy snacks like chocolates,
• Cola,
• Sweater for winter season,
• extra socks as you are going to jump into water,
• proper hiking shoe,
• proper clothing,
• hat,
• sunscreen,
• light,
• knife,
• GPS / Offline map,
• extra battery

Location map

Pin 1: This is the most popular landmark in this location. You can set your navigation in google map using this pin and you can reach here without any problem from any part of UAE.

There are different routes in this area so dont get lost.

Pin 2: This is your next point. You can use your sedan car to drive upto here based on the road condition. There is a private operated camp near by. So its easy to locate and travel using your car.

Pin 3 : This is the point where you can find the first pool in the trails.

If you travel ahead you might find lot more pools. Depending on your energy level you can explore around and return the same route.

Description

Start early morning and try to get to the starting point before the sunrise. Remember this is a day trip.

Even though we start little late. I would like to recommend a trip to start it early as possible. So it is highly recommended to reach the starting point before the sunlight hits. So if you want to start little early you should have packed your bag the day / night before. Hopefully this will make your life easy so that you need to only brush up and start the engine of the car.

Make sure all the necessary stuffs are there in the back before starting up from the home. All the items which I mentioned here are mandatory stuff. Life without those thing would probably will be difficult during the Hike. Given the list as a checklist for the beginners and if you forget something you can always buy on the way from any gas station or supermarket.

Make sure you hit any gas station and fill the gas in your car if you’re going to the station, because the roads are not set very well and you can get easily lost. For beginners it is highly recommended to group up and travel in a group.

Hike is a physically challenging activity and make sure you are physically fit for travelling few kilometres without any problem.

Once you reach the destination as mark in the map, you may find a place to park your car. Remember always to travel in a group because in case of physical injury the other one will be able to support.

If you are beginner respect to set your GPS and track your movement all the way up and down during the Hike cause you may get lost anytime and all the different look almost similar or different and you will not be able to distinguish the exact way you want to go back. For experience it was you know the things, you know the rules, just keep going straight up the trail.

What’s your time as it will be very difficult and very dark on sunset. Asus your physical condition all the way up and down, and make sure to take risk only that is acceptable. Climbing up on top of the steep Hills and mountains for selfies are good but kind of risky. You will find lots of sports to take selfies. You may find smallpools of water bodies and some animals living nearby. Some pools are very deep so you may as before getting step into full.

You can Hike as much as you want and as far as you can go but keep in mind that you will have to return all the way back. Assess your physical condition and your teams physical condition before keeping going forward.

Keep some emergency lights with you, in case if you may fail to turn on time you’ll end up in Pitch Black dark night.

Hiking is risky, travelling in a group makes much less risky. Highly recommend it.

2. Showka – The Dam Loop.

The Shawka Dam Loop is a wonderful 10km loop located in the Shawka Dam area, Fujairah which is about two hours from Dubai. The route here is well used by bikers and walkers so expect good gravel roads or well-trodden tracks. You’ll get a glimpse of desert life and agricultural life.

Starting location :

Starting at Shawka dam, generally following the MTB track. Start from the car park near the dam, head SE to follow a shallow wadi. wonderful scenery and wildlife (good chance of seeing camels, goats, donkeys and a variety of birdlife). Many open stretches with no shade so usual sun protection required along with adequate water depending on time of year.

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