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 190 km round trip from Haifa - roughly 3 h 17 in the saddle. It goes by way of Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of, 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. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Haifa is the one big Israeli city where you really do ride up a mountain to get home. The north slope of Mount Carmel drops almost straight into the Mediterranean, and the city is stacked on it in layers: port and railway at the bottom, then the German Colony with its tidy Templer houses, then the long terraces of the Bahá'í Gardens, and finally the ridge, where the road along the top gives you the whole bay as far as Acre on a clear afternoon.
Read the complete North Slope of Mount Carmel write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
North Slope of Mount Carmel is where the day begins. Next is Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of.
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 comes up about 25 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 68 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 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through 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.
back through Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of comes up about 167 km into the recorded legs. Next is North Slope of Mount Carmel.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete North Slope of Mount Carmel write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
North Slope of Mount Carmel closes the day.
North Slope of Mount Carmel → Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of → Mansion of Mazra‘ih is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mansion of Mazra‘ih → Qalaat Chama’ is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Qalaat Chama’ → back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mansion of Mazra‘ih → back through Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Necropolis of Bet She’arim: A Landmark of → North Slope of Mount Carmel is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.