What is a holiday without a bit of hiking? When visiting Jordan, we decided to add a night in Dana to our travel itinerary as hiking in Jordan is a great experience. During our visit, we stayed at Dana Eco Lodge, which is an experience in itself. Before the trip, we did some research and concluded on hiking either the Wadi Dana Trail or the Wadi Ghuweir trail. As a result, the main con of hiking the Wadi Ghuweir trail was the price. Moreover, we read that a guide is necessary, and on top of that, transportation costs are quite high. Unfortunately, all of this was true. However, we are so happy we chose to do the Wadi Ghuweir trail, as it is a one-of-a-kind hike and might be the prettiest hike in Jordan!
We booked the Wadi Ghuweir trip at our EcoLodge the night before. They did a round before dinner to advise on different hikes. It was planned to be 35 degrees celsius the day of our hike, which is also why the Dana Trail wasn’t recommended as this is a hike fully in the sun. In the end, we partnered up with 2 other girls to do the Wadi Ghuweir tour and therewith split the costs for transportation. For the full day, transport and a guide we paid 80 euros a person.
The hike is approximately 17km long and takes around 6 hours to complete. The difficulty level is medium, however, I would advise you to choose a guide when hiking the Wadi Ghuweir trail, instead of opting for hiking the Wadi Ghuweir trail without a guide. Mainly, as there are some parts where climbing was involved. Luckily, our guide supported us by building support with ropes or supporting us down. Next to that, the changing weather conditions during the Wadi Ghuweir hike are slightly different each year and each day, so having someone to guide you through is not just a luxury. Because of these same weather conditions, the hike is not accessible between November and March, because the water level can be too high or you can be surprised by strong floods.
When you book a guide, including transport, from your accommodation, a driver will bring you to the Wadi Ghuweir trail start. As we wanted to continue to Petra straight after the hike and not stay another day in Dana, we took our car to a point along the way before getting into the car of the driver. This did save us some time on the way back, so we could optimize our travel plans! Good to know is that the way there, is about 30 minutes, however, the way back can take up to 2,5 hours and will be a bumpy road.
During the Wadi Ghuweir Hike, you will follow the water stream through the canyon. Additionally, you will be rewarded with amazing corners and coves before arriving at the most impressive part of the hike: the oasis. Suddenly, palm trees and a lot of plants and vegetation show up in front of you, which is very rare combined with canyons.
The first couple of kilometres (about 5 km), you will meander through the canyon and will feel completely overwhelmed and impressed by the majestic rock formations. Be mindful, it can be quite slippery and wet along the track. However, don’t be too afraid of the water, as later on during the hike, you won’t be able to avoid wet feet (at least, in April).
In my opinion, the most amazing moment of the hike is the moment you see the green, lush nature showing up in front of you. Afterwards, you enter a real oasis, with pools of water, palm trees, and more water streams and creeks. On top of that, there is a small waterfall to refresh yourself if you like. After the oasis, we had a small lunch and ate our lunch package. This was the first time in my life to receive a potato in a lunch package. When leaving the oasis, it is still quite a long way to go which you spend walking along the creek. By this time, it was impossible to keep dry feet, so we just accepted the fact of wet feet and made it a comfortable walk for ourselves. At the end of the Wadi Ghuweir trail, some locals were selling a cold can of soda.
The price might be quite high for completing a day hike in Jordan, and I have to say, this also kept us in doubt for a while. However, the hike was amazing and a great experience that I would 100% recommend when in Jordan. We understood that the Wadi Dana Trail is way less impressive, so if you want to do a hike you won’t quickly forget, the Wadi Ghuweir Trail is for you!
