Nahal Mearot Nature Reserve

Routes

• Caves of Prehistoric Man, including an audio-visual show
• Circular botanical route
• Circular geological route
• The “Prehistoric Man” Trail – a route that climbs up steps to the entrance of the Tabun (Oven) Cave, named for the opening in its ceiling. The first excavations in this cave were conducted in 1927, headed by Dorothy Garrod. A team from Haifa University is currently excavating the cave, and they have reached a depth of about 20 meters. The route continues on to the Camel (Jamal) Cave, named for its hump shape. The activity in this cave may have included the processing of raw materials. The cave contains displays showing human life styles in the various prehistoric periods. The next cave along the route, the el-Wad (the Stream) Cave, consists of an extensive entrance hall, at the end of which there is a 70-meter long corridor. In front of the cave there is a broad rocky platform. The main findings in this cave are those of the Aurignacian culture (40,000 to 20,000 years ago). The cave was abandoned a few thousand years ago, and when humans returned there, they lived mainly in the entrance hall and on the rock platform in front of the cave (Natufian culture, 12,000-10,000 years before our time). In this cave there is an audio-visual display demonstrating the lifestyle of prehistoric man, and at the entrance there is a reconstruction of a burial site.
• The Botanical Trail – a circular route marked with blue trail marks. The trail leads eastwards along the Nahal Me’arot and climbs up the southern side of the stream, through thick Mediterranean woodland, to the top of the ridge, where it passes through a natural forest of Jerusalem Pine (Pinus halepensis). From there it continues westward to an observation point giving an impressive view towards the Carmel Coast and the sea, and descends back to the starting point.
• The Geological Trail – a circular route which climbs up to the northern cliff of the reserve. The trail is marked with wooden sign-posts with arrows and station numbers. From the highest point in the trail there is a spectacular view towards the Carmel coastal plain.

The trail to the Kids (Es Skhul) Cave – a short trail leading to the most easterly prehistoric cave along Nahal Me’arot. In this cave were found skeletons of modern man (Homo sapiens), belonging to the Mousterian culture (90,000 years ago). This finding shows that modern man lived alongside Neanderthals, who occupied the Tabun Cave.