Eshtaol Forest covers approximately 12,000 dunams in the north of the Judean Foothills. The forest is planted on the slopes of low hills that ascend to a height of about 350 meters above sea level. The hills are built of soft chalk rocks and their slopes are fairly steep. Only the narrow valleys between the hills are cultivated.
The eastern part of the forest borders on Route 38, which marks the border between the Judean Foothills and the Jerusalem Mountains. In the north the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road (Route 1) marks the limit of the forest, in the south Route 44 and in the west Route 3.
KKL-JNF began planting Eshtaol Forest in the 1950s. The first planters were new immigrants who settled in the nearby moshavim. The main forest tree is the Jerusalem pine, and in addition the plantings also include other conifers and eucalyptus groves.KKL-JNF cultivates about 160 dunams of fruit-bearing olive trees and carob trees in Eshtaol Forest.
Eshtaol Forest is in the area that was the territory of the tribe of Dan. Remains of ancient wine presses quarried out of the rock and ancient olive presses, as well as ruins from the Byzantine period are spread throughout it. In the War of Independence, the Burma Road, on which the convoys carried supplies to besieged Jerusalem, passed by here.
Eshtaol Forest is part of Rabin Park. In the War of Independence, Yitzhak Rabin, the fifth prime minister of Israel, commanded the Harel Brigade, which fought on the road to Jerusalem. KKL-JNF has nurtured Eshtaol Forest, built marked scenic roads in it for private cards and signposted the main sites. Many picnic sites are distributed at the sides of the forest roads. The Israel Trail, and the Sea to Jerusalem cycle trail which connects Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, also pass through the forest.