Jordan Trail is a long hiking trail in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

established in 2015 by the Jordan Trail Association.

History

The oldest trail in Jordan was an ancient trade route that is known today as the "

King's Highway King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to: Roads Australia * Kings Highway (Australia), connecting Queanbeyan to Batemans Bay Canada * King's Highways, an alternative designation for the primary provincial highway system in Ontario * King's ...

", which spanned from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

to Syria passing by Jordan. Moses,

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

are believed to have walked along what is now the Jordan Trail. The idea of a hiking trail stretching across Jordan was first introduced in the 1990s when

Wadi Rum Wadi Rum ( ar, وادي رم ''Wādī Ramm'', also ''Wādī al-Ramm''), known also as the Valley of the Moon ( ar, وادي القمر ''Wādī al-Qamar''), is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan, about to the east ...

came to be seen as a hot spot for rock climbing. The idea only received momentum and funding when the Jordan Trail Association was established in 2015. Volunteers and donors from the private sector contributed to the development of Jordan's first national hiking trail.

Queen Rania Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busines ...

joined a group of travel bloggers in 2017 for a short hike.

The Trail

The trail has been described as the " Inca Trail of the Middle East" by numerous travel agencies. The trail will be beneficial to Jordan's tourism sector as it begins to recover from the slump it witnessed due to regional turmoil in the early 2010s from the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...

. The trail stretches from

Umm Qais Umm Qais or Qays ( ar, أم قيس , , Mother of Qais) is a town in northern Jordan principally known for its proximity to the ruins of the ancient Gadara. It is the largest city in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in the extre ...

in northern Jordan to the coastal city of

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...

in its south. The trail passes through 52 villages and towns, but the trail has been dissected to 35 sections. The entire length of the trail takes around 40 days to complete. The trail received extensive media coverage after its inception, and has been named as among 2018's best tourist destinations in the world to visit by '' National Geographic'',Duckett, Maryellen, Kennedy
"Places You Need to Visit in 2018"
'' National Geographic''. Accessed March 20, 2018. "The Jordan Trail highlights the country’s most scenic sites.... It’s believed that Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed all walked this path." the British Sunday Times,

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, Condenast, Vogue US and

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Facebook page
Hiking trails Tourist attractions in Jordan Hiking trails in Asia