Jesus Trail · Stage 4
Walking time measured on the mapped line (TrailSplits time model, moving time; within 22 % on four in five test legs). Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights.
Through Arbel National Park and Wadi Hamam down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, by the church at Tabgha, to Capernaum: 19 km by our line. Camping is not allowed in Arbel National Park.
Best season: October to November and February to mid-May. Check access before you go: Israel’s Home Front Command and the Nature and Parks Authority publish restrictions and closures, and they can change at short notice. The trail’s founders give October to November and February to mid-May as the best seasons; December and January are rainy, and June to September too hot, with a real risk of dehydration. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
Moshav Arbel, a village about 0.35 km from the trail. The trail's own site lists Arbel Holiday Homes and the Shavit family's rooms, and names the village as a pay camping area; TrailSplits could not place the rooms on the map, so check them yourself.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end
Trailhead
The end, at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. The nearest stays on the trail's own list are back along the shore at Tabgha, on the Mount of Beatitudes and at Nof Ginosar.
Mount of Beatitudes Guest House · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
Pilgerhaus Tabgha · Hotel
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
HI Karei Deshe · Hostel or bunkhouse
Season 2026: 2026 dates not published
No walking time is published for this leg. Measured on the mapped line, the stage takes about 4 h 57 of walking.
Make it your trip
Check access first: the Home Front Command and the Nature and Parks Authority publish restrictions and closures, and they change at short notice. There is no permit or booking for the trail itself; book each night with the host, from the list on the trail's own site (archived January 2026). That site also names a 5-day self-guided package by Abraham Tours, with private rooms, luggage transfer and an orientation, from 2,800 shekels. Camping is not allowed in national parks and nature reserves, Zippori and Arbel among them; the site names pay camping areas, such as Yarok Az at Ilaniya and Arbel village. Plan the first and last days around Shabbat, when most buses and trains stop (the trail's own transport page, checked 13 October 2026 in its January 2026 archive copy).
The trail's own four walking days, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyThe first two days, by Zippori and Cana through the Beit Keshet Forest.
Plan this journeyThe last two days, by the Horns of Hattin and Arbel down to the Sea of Galilee.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (-210 m) and high point (172 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (-210 m) and the highest point (172 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Good |
| High point, day / night | 16°/7° | 17°/8° | 20°/10° | 24°/13° | 28°/17° | 31°/21° | 33°/23° | 33°/23° | 31°/22° | 28°/18° | 23°/13° | 18°/9° |
| Low point, day / night | 18°/10° | 19°/11° | 22°/13° | 25°/15° | 29°/19° | 32°/23° | 33°/25° | 34°/26° | 32°/24° | 30°/21° | 25°/15° | 20°/12° |
| Rain, mm | 132 | 93 | 49 | 21 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 56 | 104 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 10 h 12 | 11 h | 11 h 55 | 12 h 58 | 13 h 49 | 14 h 18 | 14 h 08 | 13 h 24 | 12 h 25 | 11 h 25 | 10 h 30 | 10 h |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
The Home Front Command and the Nature and Parks Authority publish restrictions and closures for the area, and they can change at short notice. TrailSplits could not read either site when it checked on 13 October 2026, so this guide cannot tell you whether you may walk the trail or enter its national parks. Check both before you book, and again before each day.
Home Front CommandThe trail passes through Zippori National Park on the first day and Arbel National Park on the last. Ask the Nature and Parks Authority whether you may enter them, and at what hours, before you go. Camping is not allowed in national parks and nature reserves.
Israel Nature and Parks AuthorityKKL-JNF's notices for the north, read 13 October 2026 and not dated, say sewage has reached the Tzipori stream, so keep away from its water, and that the scenic road through the Beit Keshet Forest is closed to cars from 19:00 to 07:00, and the trail is closed from the Nahal Barak side in those hours: walk it in daylight.
KKL-JNF: notices for the northJune to September is too hot for the trail, its founders say, with a real risk of dehydration. Carry enough water: they give 5 litres a person a day for drinking and cooking, from the trail's own site (archived January 2026).
Jesus Trail (jesustrail.com)Only the home page of jesustrail.com loaded when checked on 13 October 2026; its other pages, the GPX files and the guidebook updates returned errors. The facts here from those pages come from the trail's own site (archived January 2026): check them with each host when you book.
Jesus Trail (jesustrail.com)Getting there
Travel around Arbel to Capernaum.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Buses reach Nazareth from the rest of the country. Egged and most national lines, and the trains, do not run from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening; the local Nazareth bus companies usually do, the trail's own site (archived January 2026) says. It suggests the Moovit app to plan trips.
Egged: timetablesPlan the buses to and from Cana, Kibbutz Lavi and Arbel with Moovit, the app the trail's own site suggests, and check access first before each day.
Egged: timetablesThe trail ends at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. The 5-day package's transport takes walkers on to Tiberias. Walking alone, plan the bus out before you set off, and do not end on Shabbat.
Jesus Trail (jesustrail.com)Take your trip with you
Prepare each day while you still have a connection, and check the official access pages again before you set off.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
The trail's own site (jesustrail.com) gives the Jesus Trail as about 65 km from the old city of Nazareth to Capernaum, walked in four days: Nazareth to Cana, Cana to Kibbutz Lavi, Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel, and Arbel to Capernaum. It publishes no stage times or distances; its FAQ only asks walkers to manage about 16 km a day. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 364191, from the planet of 11 October 2026), without its alternative variant: 64.2 km, cut at those four overnights, 13.9 to 19 km a day. The distances, climb and times on each stage are ours, measured on terrain heights, not official. The site also offers a 3-day plan that takes a shuttle from Cana to Arbel. Only its home page loaded on 13 October 2026; facts from its other pages come from the trail's own site (archived January 2026).
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Jesus Trail (jesustrail.com)Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation