Trekking and Canyoning in the Jordanian Dead Sea Rift

The Jordanian Dead Sea Rift includes some of the world’s most rugged and colorful desert landscapes. Its dramatic canyons are only now beginning to be revealed offering the trekker untamed desert wilderness.

The guidebook is based on 12 months of thorough, day-to-day landscape survey of the Jordanian Rift, as well as on 6 years of leading trekking expeditions in Jordan. It is written from the perspective of an experienced hiker and guide who is also an environmentalist and geologist.

The book describes 68 routes ranging from one to six days. Among the routes are easy walks for dayhikers as well as challenging treks. 12 canyoning routes demand abseiling skills. The book is 264 pages long including 41 detailed maps, 3 true-color satellite images and 24 color pages. It is amazing that a region as spectacular as the Jordanian Dead Sea Rift remained unknown to hikers for so many years – the vast majority of the routes were never described anywhere before! Background information include geography, history, flora, fauna, people and culture, nature conservation and language as well as practical information about when to trek, how to get there, what to take etc.

Itai Haviv is an Israeli environmentalist and Geologist with extensive trekking and guiding experience. He has guided treks in the desert of Sinai, the Negev and Judean desert, and Jordan.

Itai lectures in various geographical institutes in Israel, such as the Society for the Protection of Nature and Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi.