Jebel Jais

PeaksRas Al Khaimah,UAE

The highest mountain in the Emirates at 1,934 metres, ten degrees cooler than the desert below, and the anchor of the world's longest zipline.

September·Quiet month

May–Sep

The plains turn brutally hot, while the summit holds the country's coolest air, about ten degrees cooler. But the sled ride and the Bear Grylls camp shut, the zip lines run only in early and late slots, and in fierce heat the whole mountain can stop running. Check before driving up.

Year-round Grey limestone ridges, the switchbacking summit road and terraced sunset viewpoints stand above the desert year-round, ten degrees cooler than the plains. But the park's hours, and sometimes access itself, shift with the seasons.

Jebel Jais is the highest mountain in the United Arab Emirates, 1,934 metres in the Hajar range of Ras Al Khaimah on the Omani border, ten degrees cooler than the desert below and the only place in the country that sees frost, and it is driven up on a road of switchbacks to summit terraces and the launch platform of the longest zipline in the world. The pale limestone of the mountain began as lime mud on the floor of an ancient sea, and its layers still hold the fossils of marine creatures, lifted into a range of bare grey ridges that runs into Musandam; the road, opened in 2017, climbs from the plain in flawless asphalt, each hairpin opening a wider view over the stacked Hajar summits and the desert far below, and it ends at terraced viewpoints near the top from which the whole range fans out in grey-beige ridges to the horizon. The Jais Flight launches from a platform near the summit: clipped in head-first like a superhero, the rider covers 2.8 kilometres of open valley at up to 150 kilometres an hour, three minutes in the air over the drop. The mountain is walked as well. Marked trails leave the road for the bare ridges, from short viewpoint loops to longer routes across the range, and a via ferrata of cables and ladders runs across the limestone faces with a guide, while a sledge run on rails drops through the switchbacks for those who want the speed without the height. From November to March the summit turns genuinely cold, with nights near or below freezing and frost on the sharpest mornings, and a few times a decade snow dusts the high ridges, the one taste of real winter in the Emirates, which brings the whole country up the road in a day. In summer the terraces are the coolest place to sit outdoors in the country. Jebel Jais is the roof of the Emirates, and it is the one roof with a winter.

Worth knowing

Good to know

The cool months from November to March are the time to come — summer bakes the plains, and while the summit stays cooler it can still turn fiercely hot by day.
Fuel up before you start the climb — there are no petrol stations on the mountain road, and it is a long, brake-testing descent back down to the plain afterwards.
The dark mountain sky is good for stargazing — far from the coast's glow, Ras Al Khaimah runs stargazing camps up here on clear winter nights.

Things to do

1
Drive the winding mountain road
Follow the flawless asphalt as it switchbacks up the mountainside, each hairpin opening a wider view over the grey Hajar ridges and the desert plain far below. Take it slowly — the climb is as much the attraction here as the summit itself.
2
Claim a railing spot on the summit terraces
From the terraced viewpoints the whole range fans out in stacked grey-beige summits running to the horizon. Come in low morning or late-afternoon light, when the ridges throw long shadows and the rock separates into layer after layer of receding peaks. On cool-season weekends the railings fill fast, and as the sun drops the summit can fall close to freezing while the plain below still feels warm.
3
Clip onto the cabled route across the limestone
Marked trails leave the road for the bare ridges, from short viewpoint loops to longer routes across the range. Some stretches carry steel rungs, ladders and a fixed safety cable, so walkers can clip on and cross rock that would otherwise need climbing skill. Up there the only sounds are wind and gravel, and the desert haze thins to sharp, clean air.
4
Fly the world's longest zipline
Clip into the Jais Flight and launch head-first off the mountainside, covering 2.8 kilometres of open valley at up to 150 kilometres an hour. For nearly three minutes there is nothing beneath you but air and the grey ridges of the Hajar far below.

Watch

Nearby

39 km