Al Qattara Oasis and Jebel Hafit Desert Park

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Al Qattara Oasis

   Qattara is one of the old oases of Al Ain, a cluster of palm gardens that once fed a handful of mudbrick houses and towers. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years, and the whole group of oases is recognised by UNESCO for the way people have managed water in a place where it hardly rains. At Qattara you can still see the old layout: shaded lanes between walls, small farm plots under the palms, and a fort that was built to protect the wells and the people who relied on them.

   Read the complete Al Qattara Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Al Qattara Oasis is where the day begins. Next is Bidaa Bint Saud.

2. 2. Bidaa Bint Saud

   Jebel Hafit rises out of the flat gravel desert near Al Ain like a lizard's back, a bare, folded limestone ridge about twelve hundred metres high that marks the border between the United Arab Emirates and Oman. It is the best-known landmark in the area, and the scatter of ancient sites around it tells the story of the people who lived here. On the lower slopes are about five thousand years old beehive-shaped stone tombs, the first examples of a type of grave that is now named after the mountain, and the Hafit period is a recognised phase of Bronze Age archaeology in south-east Arabia.

   Read the complete Bidaa Bint Saud write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Bidaa Bint Saud comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jebel Hafit Desert Park.

3. 3. Jebel Hafit Desert Park

   For riders in the Gulf, there is a road that people talk about with real affection. Jebel Hafit, a long, rocky ridge that rises out of the flat gravel plain on the border between the United Arab Emirates and Oman, is about 1,240 metres high, and a smooth tarmac road snakes up its eastern flank in a long series of hairpins and bends to the top, a distance of about eleven kilometres. At the summit, a hotel and a viewing terrace look out over the oasis city of Al Ain, with the desert stretching away to the horizon, and at dusk the lights come on below like a field of stars. Motorcyclists and cyclists come here in the cooler months, usually early in the morning or at sunset, and the road is one of the best in the country.

   Read the complete Jebel Hafit Desert Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Jebel Hafit Desert Park. Next is back through Bidaa Bint Saud.

4. 4. back through Bidaa Bint Saud

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bidaa Bint Saud write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Bidaa Bint Saud, late in the day. Next is Al Qattara Oasis.

5. 5. Al Qattara Oasis

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Al Qattara Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Al Qattara Oasis. That is the ride.