Wadi Mujib Siq Trail

CanyonsMadaba, Mujib Biyosfer Rezervi,Jordan

A red sandstone slot in Jordan whose main trail is a swim, climbed upstream against the current from a shore 420 metres below sea level.

September·Peaking now

Sep–Oct

Comfort returns as the heat eases, and the wet trails run every day to their hard close on 31 October. After rain, staff can shut the Siq on the spot, so call the Adventure Centre the morning you set out.

Year-round The red Nubian-sandstone slot, its spring-fed stream running every day of the year, and the Nubian ibex on the cliffs are always here, in a reserve some 420 m below sea level.

The Wadi Mujib Siq Trail is a slot canyon of red sandstone in the Mujib biosphere reserve of Jordan, opening onto the Dead Sea shore roughly 420 metres below sea level, the lowest ground any nature reserve occupies, and its main trail is a swim, two kilometres upstream against the current in a life jacket to a waterfall, open from April to October. The wadi drains the plateau of Moab into the Dead Sea, and the stream that runs through it was once one of the best-known frontiers of the ancient Near East, the Arnon of the Bible, the border between the Moabites and the Amorites; a walkway bolted to the cliff carries the walker dry into the mouth of the gorge, and then the water takes over, wading and swimming through pools, hauling up small cascades on ropes and ladders, with the walls closing to a few metres apart and rising 200 metres in bands of red and orange, the stream cold and the air hot. The slot sits in shadow most of the day, so the swim is paced to be deep in the tightest section around midday, when the sun climbs high enough to reach the floor and lights the red walls from above. The canyon ends at a waterfall in a chamber of rock, where the swimmers turn back and let the current carry them down the pools they climbed, faster and with less effort than the way up. Nubian ibex were hunted out of these cliffs and bred back in an enclosure in the reserve, and the guided Ibex Trail on the ridges above the gorge is the winter walk, from November to March, when flash floods make the canyon too dangerous to enter and the wet trails shut. The trail ends back at the visitor centre on the shore, where the Dead Sea is floated in, saltier than any water the swimmer has just been through, and the hotels of the coast are minutes away. Wadi Mujib is a canyon that is swum rather than walked, and the river is the path.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Everyone on the wet trails must be at least 18 — the reserve enforces it at the gate, so a family with younger children needs a different plan for the day.
The Siq is the only self-guided route here — no guide and no advance booking; you sign in at the Adventure Centre and pick up a life jacket. Every other trail needs a guide.
A closed day is a real possibility — after rain, or when the flow runs too strong, staff shut the wet trails on the spot. Call the Adventure Centre the morning you set out.
Assume everything you carry gets soaked — you will be chest-deep and you will slip, so a sealed pouch and shoes with real grip matter more than anything else in your bag.
Start in the first hours after opening — the gorge is coolest and emptiest then, and the reserve stops admitting walkers early enough that a late arrival can be turned away.

Things to do

1
Swim the Siq upstream to the waterfall
A walkway bolted to the cliff carries you dry into the mouth of the gorge, and then the water takes over: life jacket on, two kilometres of red slot canyon, and a stream running the wrong way. One moment you are wading ankle-deep, the next you are swimming a pool with no floor under you, hauling on a fixed rope to get over the next cascade. It ends at a waterfall pouring down between the walls — climb into the pool at its base, take the hammering, then float the whole thing back down.
2
Time your climb to hit the narrows at midday
The slot sits in shadow most of the day, so pace the swim to be deep in the tightest section around midday, when the sun finally climbs high enough to reach the floor. Stop there, tread water, and look straight up as the wet Nubian sandstone shifts from shadow-grey to warm copper on both walls.
3
Float in the Dead Sea after the climb
The trailhead sits on the shore roughly 420 metres below sea level, the lowest ground any nature reserve occupies. Salt water is a two-minute walk from where you hand back the life jacket, and floating in it is the natural way to end a day spent swimming up fresh water.
4
Take the winter Ibex Trail when the water routes close
From November to March the gorge is too dangerous to enter and the wet trails shut, but a guided ridge walk opens above them. It climbs dry ground with the Dead Sea laid out below, through the cliffs where the reserve released its captive-bred Nubian ibex.

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Nearby

15 km