Aminadav Forest - Forests & Hills near Jerusalem

Together with the region’s natural woodland, this forest provides the most significant area of green belt available to the residents of Israel’s capital. The scenic route created through the forest by KKL-JNF offers magnificent vistas, and the forest itself contains natural springs, terraces and the remains of ancient agriculture. At the entrance to the forest KKL-JNF has provided recreation areas and sports facilities, together with cycle trails, a sign-posted orienteering course and a path specially adapted for disabled access.

The Scenic Trail created by KKL-JNF along the Shalmon-Soreq Ridge offers a magnificent view of the Soreq and Refaim gullies and the Jerusalem Hills, with the large open expanses of central Israel visible in the distance.

The interior of the forest possesses an abundance of natural springs, some of Israel’s finest agricultural terraces and the remains of orchards, wine presses, olive presses and limekilns. At the forest entrance, KKL-JNF has provided a number of recreation areas, some of which offer facilities for sport and active recreation. The forest also includes cycle paths of varying levels of difficulty, a sign-posted orienteering route and a special disabled-accessible path adjacent to the active recreation area at Horvat Saadim.

The starting point for a visit to the forest is the Kennedy Memorial, from which we can continue along the Shalmon-Soreq Ridge Scenic Trail.

We’ll start our tour from the Kennedy Memorial (site no. 1 on the map), a remarkable monument to the memory of former U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was murdered in November 1963. Much of the charm of the memorial is due to its location at the top of an isolated hill 823 meters above sea level. Before setting out on our tour, it’s worth taking a walk round the Kennedy Memorial building to enjoy the magnificent landscape on every side: the Judean Hills, Mount Hebron and a “window” on to the Coastal Plain, where, on a clear day, Ashdod can be observed in the distance.

Moving on, we turn off the Kennedy Memorial access road and follow the signs along the track that leads down to Horvat Saadim (site no. 2 on the map). After leaving the car in a small parking lot adjacent to the fork in the path that leads to the springs of Ein Hindak, we set out on foot to visit the woodland and the spring nearby (the walk takes between 30 minutes and one hour).

Horvat Saadim is a very small nature reserve, and the main reason for its recognition as such is the presence of the exceptionally large specimens of the Israeli common oak (Quercus calliprinos) that grow there – an unusual sight where this variety of oak is concerned. An impressively ancient carob tree can also be seen in the vicinity.

The continuation of our walk will take us some 300 meters to the west of the edge of Horvat Saadim. Slightly to the north of the dirt track that encircles Mount Shalmon we come to Ein Saadim (site no. 3 on the map), whose spring emerges from two short conduits hewn into the rock. In the past, this water flowed into two collection pools, which can still be seen at the site, and from there it was conveyed to the agricultural terraces below the spring. The almond trees growing on the terraces are the final remnant of the orchards that once flourished here. A signpost points the way to a short path that leads up the slope to the Saadim Recreation Area (site no. 4 on the map) in the Cairo Martyrs’ Grove, which is dedicated to the members of an Israeli intelligence network that operated in Cairo in 1954. Several of the members were executed when the network's operations were discovered.

A kilometer-long trail specially adapted for disabled use leads from the Saadim Recreation Area to the Activities Recreation Area (site no. 7 on the map), before returning to its starting point. We go back to our vehicle and follow the dirt road around Mount Shalmon (it is indicated with black markings) until we reach Havat HaGitot (“Wine Press Farm”). At first, the trail leads us to a junction (site no. 5 on the map), where a signboard displays a map of the forest. At the junction, we continue straight on, then immediately turn right on to a stretch of trail beneath a high-tension electricity pole (green markings). The track takes us round the ridge to the west and north, ascending to the highest point of Soreq Ridge (altitude point 714), where KKL-JNF has established a small, cozy recreation area (site no. 6 on the map). Here we can park the car and continue upwards on foot, following a path bordered with curbstones that leads to the top of the hill.

Along the way, this footpath passes three ancient wine presses that were used to extract juice from grapes that was later fermented to produce wine. The third (upper) wine press is especially impressive, as it is large, with a treading floor 5.7 x 4.7 meters in size. After treading, the grapes underwent additional compression by means of a beam, one end of which was fixed in a rectangular depression hewn into the western edge of the floor. The remains of an olive press can also be seen just nearby. The wine presses and other agricultural equipment at the site would appear to have belonged to a local farm and to have been in operation at some time between the Ancient Israelite Period and the Byzantine era. The footpath continues to the top of the hill. Here, beside a cairn (i.e., a man-made heap of stones) we are rewarded with an impressive view of the landscape in all directions. All around us are the remains of buildings that once belonged to the farms established here in the various different periods. The footpath takes us back down to the Wine Press Recreational Area where our car is waiting.

If you want to spend a little more time in these natural surroundings, you can make your way to Aminadav Forest’s Active Recreation Area. To get there, you take the dirt road back to the junction where we saw the signpost with the map on it (site no. 5 on the map). Here, you turn right (red trail markings) and continue on for about a kilometer. Then turn left, still following the red markings and the sign that reads “Kennedy Memorial.”

At the first junction, turn left, and you’ll find yourself in the Aminadav Active Recreation Area (site no. 7), where KKL-JNF has established a large recreational site that includes a basketball court, exercise equipment, playground equipment for children, barbeque facilities and running water. The site provides direct access to a challenging mountain-bike trail that continues for 2.5 kilometers and ends at Fischer Junction (site no. 5 on the map). And from there it’s only a short distance back to the Kennedy Memorial.