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Hermon Stream Nature Reserve (Banias)

Banias, Al Qunaytirah, Syrian Arab Republic

The Hermon Stream Nature Reserve is located in a disputed territory between Israel and Syria. It is currently controlled (and is only accessible) from Israel.

The park has a number of walking trails for visitors to go on. The shortest trail is a 45 minute loop, and the longest trail takes 90 minutes (in one direction). Depending on the time of the year, it may be too hot to go on a longer walk.

Part of the "red" walking trail is very near a mine field. This is clearly labeled on the map, and should be avoided.

The park consists of two different parking lots - the "Springs" parking lot (which is near the springs, and the "Waterfall" parking lot (which is near the waterfall). If you don't feel like making the 90 minute walk between them, you can drive between them. There is drinking water, bathrooms, and items available for purchase at both parking lots.

Cost

Entrance to the park as an adult costs 23 NIS. The park is open from 8:00am-3:00pm Saturday through Thursday, and 8:00am-2:00pm on Friday.

Estimated Visiting Time

Ruins near the springs parking lot

You could probably spend the whole day here if you wanted to, but that makes for a long day. We spent one hour walking around at the springs area, and then another hour making our way down to the waterfall (from the waterfall parking lot). We got to see both sites, and spend some leisure time walking around at each place.

The Springs

A niche for a statue of Pan, near the Springs parking lot

Around the springs, there are some ruins that were originally part of the Temple of Pan. Unfortunately, most of the ruins are eroded, and there's not really much to see here. The Hermon Stream itself also runs through the area. Even on hot days, the water is quite cool since it comes from snow that has melted on Mt. Hermon.

The Waterfall

The waterfall

From the parking lot, it takes approximately 15 minutes to walk down to the waterfall. The trail involves going down a medium-sized hill. Some of the hill has stairs (approximately 75), and the rest is a walking path.

Depending on the time of year, there may be nice flowers along the path. When we visited in mid-March, the trail was covered in a wide variety of flowers that were all different colors.

The waterfall itself is nice, although it's not really that big. The nicest feature was that it sprayed cool mist into the air, making the area around the waterfall seem cooler than the rest of the area. It was a very hot day when we visited, so the cool, misty air was a welcome change.