Why this ride
A 213 km round trip from Al Markaz - roughly 4 h 32 in the saddle. It goes by way of Jawatha Mosque, Qasr Ibrahim, Jawatha archaeological site and Suq al-Qaysariyah.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Al-Asfar Lake and Suq al-Qaysariyah
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 213 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 32
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Al-Asfar Lake → Jawatha Mosque
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 18 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 47 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Al-Asfar Lake
The Al-Ahsa oasis in eastern Saudi Arabia is a green island in a very large desert. Under the sand lie huge aquifers, and springs rise to the surface to feed an area of about eighty-five square kilometres of date palms, said to be the largest oasis in the world, with perhaps two and a half million trees. It lies not far from the Gulf coast, near the city of Hofuf, and it has been settled for thousands of years, from the Bronze Age through the ancient Dilmun culture and into Islamic times. UNESCO listed it in 2018 as an evolving cultural landscape.
Read the complete Al-Asfar Lake write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Al-Asfar Lake is where the day begins. Next is Jawatha Mosque.
2. Jawatha Mosque
Al-Ahsa is an oasis the size of a small country, and everything about it feels improbable. The eastern province of Saudi Arabia is mostly sand and flat gravel, yet here several million date palms stand in green groves watered by natural springs that rise from deep aquifers. The oasis is on the UNESCO list for exactly this reason: people have farmed here for thousands of years, and the system of canals and gardens is still working. Jawatha Mosque is part of that story, an old mud-brick building in a village among the groves, near the shore of Al-Asfar Lake.
Read the complete Jawatha Mosque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jawatha Mosque comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Qasr Ibrahim.
3. Qasr Ibrahim
Hofuf is the main town of Al-Ahsa, in eastern Saudi Arabia, and Al-Ahsa is not what you picture when you think of the Arabian desert. It is a vast oasis, one of the largest in the world, with some two and a half million date palms fed by natural springs that rise from deep aquifers and flow through channels and canals. The green of the palms against the sand around it is striking, and UNESCO listed the oasis in 2018 as a cultural landscape that has been inhabited since the Neolithic era.
Read the complete Qasr Ibrahim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Qasr Ibrahim. Next is Jawatha archaeological site.
4. Jawatha archaeological site
Jawatha is an ancient name that appears in the early history of Islam. The mosque here, in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa in eastern Saudi Arabia, is said to be one of the first places outside Medina where Friday prayers were held, in the seventh century, after the tribe of Abd al-Qays accepted the new faith. What remains today is a ruin of low mud-brick walls and the outline of a prayer hall, in a quiet spot among palms and farmland, and it carries great weight for local people.
Read the complete Jawatha archaeological site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jawatha archaeological site, about halfway. Next is Suq al-Qaysariyah.
5. Suq al-Qaysariyah
The Qaysariyah is Hofuf's old covered market, and it has the layout of a bazaar that grew in the days when caravans crossed the desert to reach the oasis. Long, shaded passages run between rows of small shops, with arched ceilings, thick walls and shuttered entrances, and the air inside is noticeably cooler than the street. The oasis of Al-Ahsa has been a trading crossroads for centuries, the place where the desert people of Arabia met merchants from the Gulf coast, Iraq and India, and the market was built to serve them.
Read the complete Suq al-Qaysariyah write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Suq al-Qaysariyah sits at 75 km, about halfway. Next is back through Jawatha archaeological site.
6. back through Jawatha archaeological site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jawatha archaeological site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jawatha archaeological site comes up about 134 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Qasr Ibrahim.
7. back through Qasr Ibrahim
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Qasr Ibrahim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 160 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Qasr Ibrahim. Next is back through Jawatha Mosque.
8. back through Jawatha Mosque
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jawatha Mosque write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jawatha Mosque, late in the day. Next is Al-Asfar Lake.
9. Al-Asfar Lake
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Al-Asfar Lake write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 213 km.
Leg by leg
Al-Asfar Lake to Jawatha Mosque
Al-Asfar Lake → Jawatha Mosque is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jawatha Mosque to Qasr Ibrahim
Jawatha Mosque → Qasr Ibrahim is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qasr Ibrahim to Jawatha archaeological site
Qasr Ibrahim → Jawatha archaeological site is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jawatha archaeological site to Suq al-Qaysariyah
Jawatha archaeological site → Suq al-Qaysariyah is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Suq al-Qaysariyah to back through Jawatha archaeological site
Suq al-Qaysariyah → back through Jawatha archaeological site is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jawatha archaeological site to back through Qasr Ibrahim
back through Jawatha archaeological site → back through Qasr Ibrahim is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Qasr Ibrahim to back through Jawatha Mosque
back through Qasr Ibrahim → back through Jawatha Mosque is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jawatha Mosque to Al-Asfar Lake
back through Jawatha Mosque → Al-Asfar Lake is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.