The footpath leading up to Mount Tabor is steep and challenging, and many choose to drive to the top, taking in the view without investing the sweat needed to truly appreciate the mountain. Are you ready to make that investment?
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If you are then follow a green-blazed trail from a parking lot at the exit from the village of Shibli that sharply ascends from a height of 270 meters to a height of 530 meters over a single kilometer- this ascent is not for the weak of heart! Still, the reward is well worth the effort, as the route winds through the lovely woodlands blanketing the mountain’s slopes and offers an almost continuous view northwards towards Beit Keshet, Ein Maahal, and Nazareth, site of the childhood of Jesus to the North East.
Mount Tabor offers has its own biblical connections- In the Old Testament, the mountain is described as the mustering point of the armies of the Prophetess Debora that defeated the Midianite hordes of Sisra. In the New Testament it is the site of the “mountain of transfiguration” described in the book of Mathew.
It is the latter which inspired the construction of both Catholic and Orthodox churches on the mountain, at the end of the green-blazed trail. Once you have caught your breath, follow a black-blazed 2.5-kilometer footpath around the mountain top that offers you a breathtaking vista in all directions until you return to the green-blazed trail- just remember that the way down can be just as difficult as the way up!
This hike is around 3.5 kilometers long and takes 4-5 hours to complete (of which the black-blazed trail around the mountain top make up 2.5 kilometers and only one hour). Do not stray off the blazed trails- tumbling down an escarpment is a real danger.
To reach the starting point of this hike, take route 65 from Afula to the Golani Junction. At the Tavor junction take a left to Daburia, in the central square of Daburia take a right and follow the signs to the top of the mountain- but when you reach the narrow road leading to the top do not ascend it but continue to the nearby bus parking lot and search for the green-blazed trail. Press here to see Mount Tabor Summit Trail