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 161 km round trip from Ramat Yishay - roughly 2 h 47 in the saddle. The stops in between: Persian Quarter, Mansion of Mazra‘ih, Qalaat Chama’ and back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih. It crosses from Israel into Lebanon - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
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 Persian Quarter.
Haifa climbs the northern slope of Mount Carmel in tiers, and halfway up, a golden dome catches the light above a staircase of gardens that tumbles all the way down to the old German Colony and the port. This is the Bahá'í World Centre, and the dome crowns the Shrine of the Báb, the founder figure of the Bahá'í faith, whose remains were brought here from Persia and interred on the mountainside. The nineteen terraces around it, with clipped lawns, gravel paths, cypresses and fountains, are among the most meticulously kept gardens anywhere, and together with the shrine of Bahá'u'lláh near Acre across the bay they form a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Persian connection runs through everything here, from the faith's origins in nineteenth-century Iran to the formal geometry of the planting.
Read the complete Persian Quarter write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Persian Quarter comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mansion of Mazra‘ih.
The Baháʼí faith has two of its holiest places in Israel, and the Mansion of Mazra'ih is the quieter of them. It stands in the farmland north of Acre, near the coast, a large Ottoman-era house surrounded by gardens and orange trees. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion, spent years as a prisoner in the fortress city of Acre, and when his confinement was relaxed in 1877 he moved here, living in the mansion for a couple of years before settling at nearby Bahjí, where he died in 1892.
Read the complete Mansion of Mazra‘ih write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Mansion of Mazra‘ih. 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.
Qalaat Chama’, about halfway. Next is back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mansion of Mazra‘ih write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih sits at 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Persian Quarter.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Persian Quarter write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Persian Quarter comes up about 136 km into the recorded legs. 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.
Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of closes the day.
Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of → Persian Quarter is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Persian Quarter → Mansion of Mazra‘ih is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mansion of Mazra‘ih → Qalaat Chama’ is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qalaat Chama’ → back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih → back through Persian Quarter is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Persian Quarter → Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.