Jordan Dead Sea Highway: Amman to Wadi Mujib

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Amman

   Amman is the starting point of Jordan's King's Highway, the old road that runs south through the country to the Red Sea, and it is also a city worth a day of its own. It is built on a series of hills, once seven, and the oldest part is the Citadel, which holds the pillars of a Roman temple to Hercules, a Byzantine church and an Umayyad palace, all on the same ridge. The ancient name was Philadelphia, after the Ptolemaic king who rebuilt it, and before that Rabbath Ammon, the capital of the Ammonites. Down in the valley below, a large Roman theatre, carved into the hillside and seating around six thousand people, still stages concerts.

   Read the complete Amman write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Amman is where the day begins. Next is Mount Nebo.

2. 2. Mount Nebo

   Mount Nebo is a modest ridge, a little over 800 metres high, in the hills above the Dead Sea in Jordan, but it has one of the most famous viewpoints in the Middle East. According to the Bible, this is the place where Moses was shown the Promised Land, before he died without crossing the Jordan. From the terrace, the land falls away dramatically, and on a clear day you can see the Jordan Valley, the northern end of the Dead Sea, the oasis of Jericho, and, in good light, the hills around Jerusalem. The haze often hides the farthest views, so the morning and late afternoon are best.

   Read the complete Mount Nebo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mount Nebo comes up 60 km in. Next is Dead Sea.

3. 3. Dead Sea

   The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the surface of the Earth, about 430 metres below sea level, and it is a strange experience to ride down to it. From Amman the road drops through the hills, with the temperature rising noticeably, until the great expanse of pale blue water appears beneath dry, ochre-coloured cliffs. The salt content is almost ten times that of the ocean, so nothing lives in it, and swimmers float effortlessly on the surface, reading a newspaper if they wish.

   Read the complete Dead Sea write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   120 km in you reach Dead Sea. Next is Wadi Mujib.

4. 4. Wadi Mujib

   Wadi Mujib is the lowest nature reserve on Earth, and the Kings Highway crosses it in one of the most dramatic descents in Jordan. The road drops from the plateau near Madaba down the side of a great canyon, in a long series of bends, to a bridge at the bottom, and then climbs the other side, a change of several hundred metres in a few kilometres. The canyon, which the Bible calls the Arnon, was the boundary between the kingdoms of Moab and the Amorites, and it carves a deep red-brown gash through the sandstone toward the Dead Sea.

   Read the complete Wadi Mujib write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Wadi Mujib closes the day.