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.
460 km from Al Buraymī to Al Buraymī, about 6 h 27 of riding. It goes by way of Faya Palaeolandscape, Wadi Wurayah and back through Faya Palaeolandscape. It crosses from Oman into United Arab Emirates - carry ID and check the toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hili North Tomb B
Jebel Hafit is the mountain that dominates the skyline here, a long, jagged limestone ridge rising abruptly from the desert plain on the border between Oman and the Emirates. Its slopes are littered with beehive-shaped stone tombs, built about five thousand years ago, among the oldest of their kind in the Arabian Peninsula. Hili North Tomb B belongs to the same oasis landscape as the better-known Hili sites and is a short ride from Buraimi, with the mountain filling the horizon to the south.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hili North Tomb B is where the day begins. Next is Faya Palaeolandscape.
2. Faya Palaeolandscape
Sharjah's interior is a world of red dunes, gravel plains and jagged limestone ridges, and in the middle of it, near the town of Mleiha, the hill of Jebel Faya holds one of the most important records of early human presence outside Africa. Excavations in rock shelters at the foot of the mountain have revealed stone tools spanning many tens of thousands of years, suggesting that early modern humans were present in Arabia far earlier than once thought, during periods when the climate was wetter and the desert greener. The Faya Palaeolandscape was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2025, recognising its significance for understanding human dispersal out of Africa.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Faya Palaeolandscape comes up about 105 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wadi Wurayah.
3. Wadi Wurayah
Wadi Wurayah lies in the Hajar mountains on the east coast of the Emirates, in the narrow strip of Fujairah that reaches the Gulf of Oman, and it is one of the few places in the country where water stays on the surface all year. A stream runs through the gorge, feeding pools and small falls beneath tall, folded cliffs of limestone and ophiolite, rock that was once part of the ocean floor and was pushed up onto the land when plates collided. It was the first mountain protected area in the Emirates and is now a national park. Fish live in the pools, and the rarer animals include the Arabian tahr, a shy mountain goat that few visitors ever see.