Wadi Ghail – Bahar Plateau – Jebel Tafif – Wadi Qadaah Loop Hike. Ras al Khaimah.

More details & pictures posted on wikiloc.
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/wadi-ghail-bahar-plateau-jebel-tafif-wadi-qadaah-loop-201861268

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Wadi Ghail – Bahar Plateau – Jebel Tafif – Wadi Qadaah Loop. Ras al Khaimah.

Trail Stats:

Distance:	21 kms
Difficulty:	Moderate
Elevation gain:	1500 m
Elevation loss:	1500 m
Max elevation:	1535 m
Min elevation:	220 m
Trail type:	Loop
Moving time:	7 hours 10 minutes

Wadi Ghail – Bahar Plateau – Jebel Tafif – Wadi Qadaah Loop. Ras al Khaimah.

Wadi Ghail located in Ras Al Khaimah is a stunning natural area perfect for hiking enthusiasts. It is a tributary of the larger valley of Wadi Qada’ah.

This trail is marked “Difficult” due to,
The challenging nature of mountain / Wadi surface, high elevation gain, long hiking distance, loose rocks scree, navigation required in the terrain and rough hike.
Can be graded as Moderate for experienced hikers.

You will need a proper 4X4 to reach the trailhead or you can park AWD about 1 Km before and add the hiking distance.
Please note Sedan cars can struggle to reach the connection of Wadi Ghail with Wadi Qadaah.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/FEYgqH4py9f1f3FZ7

You can refer the below offroading trail to access the Wadi Ghail hike start point from Jebel Jais road.
This is only indicative reference.
https://www.wikiloc.com/offroading-trails/ghail-153559755

We started the hike from Wadi Ghail (the tributary of Wadi Qadaah ) in Ras al Khaimah and hiked till the Ghail village on a visible trail with some markers and cairns.
From Ghail village, we continued to the new scenic balcony trail (since 2022 ) that connects Ghail village with Hebs villages and Wadi Bih.
At the top of Wadi Qadaah, the trail gets divided.
The left one goes to Hebs and the right one goes to Bahar plateau.
We took right and soon reached Bahar plateau, then we continued southwards.

You will soon see the UAE Oman border markers on the plateau with grand views of Jebel Qada’ah, Jebel Bahar, Jebel yanas, Jebel Tafif and Wadi Qada’ah and leopard canyon.

From here we were always on the mountain surface, which also meant you are exposed to the sunlight.
You need to be properly equipped for sunny hike.

The balance walk all the way to Tafif summit was bit wavy with ups and downs and interesting rock formations.
Tafif is always in visibility.

At the summit, there is a visitors book kept for hikers to record their thoughts.
From the summit you can see Jebel Harf Tila, Jebel Qihwi Oman, Wadi Naqab, Jebel yanas, Jebel Qadaah and Jebel Jais.
There are 2 different border markers too.

Then we descended towards Tafifi side via slopes of Tafif. This terrain is bit loose and slippery at places.
At the end, there is about 40 meters of vertical rough cliff to descend, you can locate the path with some cairns placed. Please be cautious and safe while scrambling down.
You need good shoes for this area.

Once down on the Tafifi flat lands, we proceeded to Qada’ah village by a faint trail most of the time. The view of Majestic Jebel Qada’ah is really grand in this section.
There are few spots where the trail is not clearly visible, but you will find it if you look for it directionally.
Some sections are with loose rocks which can be slippery, so take care.

From the Qadaah village, theres a donkey trail that goes all the way down to Danab village of Wadi Qadaah. The trail is mostly visible, but washed out in few places.

Finally after snaking through the mountain, we connected to the offroad of Wadi Qadaah which takes you all the way down to the car parking as noted above.

This is quite nice challenging hike which takes you through different terrains and views and not much popular yet.

Grade: Moderate / Difficult

Base Village: Wadi Qada’ah

Range: Tafif.

View of Jebel Qada’ah behind

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Mountains view

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Qadaah village

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Qadaah

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