CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 411 km round trip from Ramat Yishay - roughly 7 h 05 in the saddle. On the way it passes House of ‘Abbúd, Qalaat Chama’, Qalaat Chakra and Anjar. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,500 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Israel into Lebanon - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In the second century AD, after the failed revolts against Rome, the centre of Jewish life moved to Galilee, and the Sanhedrin, the supreme rabbinical council, settled for a time at Bet She'arim, on a hill at the western edge of the Jezreel valley. Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, the patriarch who compiled the Mishnah, the first great codification of Jewish law, lived here, and when he was buried in the necropolis, Jews from all over the diaspora wanted to be buried near him. The result is a vast network of catacombs carved into the soft limestone, listed by UNESCO in 2015.
Read the complete Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of is where the day begins. Next is House of ‘Abbúd.
Acre sits at the northern tip of Haifa Bay, on a small peninsula that has been a port since the Bronze Age, and the House of Abbud is one of the Ottoman-era buildings of its old town, in a maze of stone lanes about a kilometre from the walls.
Read the complete House of ‘Abbúd write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
House of ‘Abbúd comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Qalaat Chama’.
Before anything else: this is one of the most sensitive places on any of these routes. Qalaat Chama, or Shamaa castle, stands on a hilltop in southern Lebanon, a few kilometres north of the border with Israel and inland from Naqoura, in an area that has seen repeated conflict, including heavy fighting in recent years, and that many governments advise against visiting under any circumstances. Damage to historic sites in the area has been reported, and conditions may have changed. Do not go without checking current official travel advice, and if in doubt, do not go at all.
Read the complete Qalaat Chama’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Qalaat Chama’. Next is Qalaat Chakra.
Before anything else, the honest part: this place lies in southern Lebanon, a few kilometres from the border with Israel, in an area that has seen repeated war, most recently in 2024, and that remains militarised and unpredictable. The listed neighbours on the route sheet, from Kiryat Shmona to Tyre, sit on opposite sides of a frontier that is closed to ordinary travel. Check your government's travel advice and local conditions very carefully before even thinking about a visit, and do not try to approach from the Israeli side.
Read the complete Qalaat Chakra write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Qalaat Chakra, about halfway. Next is Anjar.
In the Bekaa valley of Lebanon, close to the Syrian border, an Umayyad city lies laid out in a perfect grid, as if drawn with a ruler. Anjar was built in the early eighth century, probably under the caliph al-Walid I, as a palace town and commercial centre on the trade routes between Damascus and the coast. Its plan echoes Roman cities, with two main streets crossing at a four-sided monument, the tetrapylon, lined with the bases of hundreds of shops. Arches of the great palace, built of alternating courses of stone and brick, rise against the backdrop of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, and in the late afternoon the stone glows warm gold. The city flourished only briefly before being abandoned, which is why it is so clearly preserved. UNESCO listed it in 1984.
Read the complete Anjar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Anjar sits at 206 km, about halfway. Next is back through Qalaat Chakra.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Qalaat Chakra write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Qalaat Chakra comes up about 303 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Qalaat Chama’.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Qalaat Chama’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 338 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Qalaat Chama’. Next is back through House of ‘Abbúd.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete House of ‘Abbúd write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through House of ‘Abbúd, late in the day. Next is Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 411 km.
Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of → House of ‘Abbúd is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
House of ‘Abbúd → Qalaat Chama’ is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qalaat Chama’ → Qalaat Chakra is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qalaat Chakra → Anjar is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Anjar → back through Qalaat Chakra is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Qalaat Chakra → back through Qalaat Chama’ is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Qalaat Chama’ → back through House of ‘Abbúd is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through House of ‘Abbúd → Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.