Stage start
Oyoun al-Theeb
Camping spot
Near Mount Nebo. The official page lists a wild camp here and hotels at Madaba and Mount Nebo, reached by taxi. Hosts and phone numbers: the Jordan Trail Association's day page (read 28 September 2026).
Oyoun al-Theeb to Wadi Zarqa Ma'in
Jordan Trail · Stage 12
21kmStage distance
451mMapped ascent
12Stage number
Wild, barren country south along the old Roman road towards Mukawir, over four wadis and down the Roman road into Wadi Zarqa Ma'in: 21.2 km, 7 hours, difficult. Remote, with little shade and no water until the end: start early and avoid it in summer. Private transport only at both ends.
Best season: Spring and autumn. The Association gives March and April as the best months in the north, February and March in the south, and September to mid-November as similarly pleasant. The desert days have little shade and are hot outside winter; wadis can flood after rain. The month table below rates the whole trail by its hottest and coldest days, so September, still hot in the southern desert, scores lower than the Association's advice for the north. Before you go
Loading topographic map…
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%) Steep (15–25%)
Green: Oyoun al-Theeb to Wadi Zarqa Ma'in. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.
Oyoun al-Theeb to Wadi Zarqa Ma'in
12 / 35
Where this stage starts and ends
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 28 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage end · overnight
Wadi Zarqa Ma'in
Camping spot
A camp in the wadi, with no stay listed: private transport only: the Association says a truck is likely unable to get within 1 km of the wadi because the track is washed out. The day into the camp is remote, with no water until the end; the wadi's water needs purifying, and a few Bedouin tents are there in winter only. Hosts and phone numbers: the Jordan Trail Association's day page (read 28 September 2026).
Walking time for this leg
- Oyoun al-Theeb to Wadi Zarqa Ma'in: 7 hr. Our estimate for this stage is 5 h 22. jordantrail.org, read 28 September 2026
Make it your trip
Not marked: hire a local guide
The Jordan Trail is not marked, and the Association strongly recommends hiring a local guide for your safety: many sections are remote, with little water and at times no phone signal. Its planning page lists licensed guides. Arrange each night with the hosts on its day page (homestays, wild camps, lodges and hotels), carry about five litres of water a day, and buy your Petra pass for the back-door day (the Association says it can now be bought at the new Little Petra ticket office; 50, 55 or 60 JD for one, two or three days). The Trail Pass (20 JD) is an optional passport stamped at listed stays.
Um Qais to Aqaba
The 35 official days, north to south.
Plan this journeyUm Qais to Ajloun
The green north: Roman Gadara and Pella, oak woods and village homestays.
Plan this journeyAjloun to As-Salt
Olive hills and villages from Ajloun Castle to the Ottoman town of Salt.
Plan this journeyAs-Salt to Wadi Zarqa Ma'in
Over the hills to Iraq al-Amir and Mount Nebo, down the Roman road above the Dead Sea.
Plan this journeyThree Wadis to Karak
Across the Dead Sea canyons of Hidan and Mujib to Karak Castle, with wild camps.
Plan this journeyAl-Karak to Dana
Plateau villages, the Burbeita hot springs and Wadi Hasa to the stone village of Dana.
Plan this journeyDana to Petra
Down Wadi Dana to Feynan, along Wadi Araba and into Petra by the back door.
Plan this journeyPetra to Wadi Rum
Out through Petra into remote sandstone wadis to the ruins of Humeima: little water, no phone signal for long stretches, and no food on the route for five days.
Plan this journeyWadi Rum to the Red Sea
Across the desert of Wadi Rum and the granite mountains to Aqaba; after Rum village, no phone signal and almost no water or food: arrange water drops.
Plan this journeyWeather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (176 m) and high point (449 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (176 m) and the highest point (449 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good |
| High point, day / night | 15°/7° | 16°/8° | 20°/10° | 24°/13° | 28°/17° | 31°/20° | 32°/22° | 32°/22° | 30°/20° | 27°/18° | 22°/13° | 17°/8° |
| Low point, day / night | 17°/8° | 18°/9° | 22°/11° | 26°/14° | 30°/18° | 33°/21° | 34°/22° | 34°/23° | 33°/21° | 30°/19° | 24°/14° | 19°/10° |
| Rain, mm | 61 | 40 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 38 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 10 h 18 | 11 h 03 | 11 h 56 | 12 h 55 | 13 h 45 | 14 h 12 | 14 h 02 | 13 h 20 | 12 h 24 | 11 h 27 | 10 h 34 | 10 h 06 |
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
Prepare for the Jordan Trail
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Water
Plan on five litres a day where there is no resupply, more for cooking at camp. Buy bottled water or use taps in the villages; springs and streams need purifying, and several camps have none. The longest stretch without water is Rum village to Aqaba: arrange water drops or caches.
Jordan Trail: waterHeat, flash floods and loose ground
The desert days have little shade: start early and rest in the shade at midday. Do not camp or linger in narrow wadis when rain is possible upstream. Several passes are loose scree: wear boots or shoes, not sandals.
Jordan Trail: difficulty and fitnessCulture and camps
Learn a few words of Arabic greeting and thanks. Approach a Bedouin camp from the left, the men's side, and call a greeting before coming close. Minibuses leave when full, run less or not at all on Fridays and holidays, and stop early in the evening.
Jordan Trail: local cultureGuides
The Association publishes lists of licensed guides, local guides and service providers on the trail, who can also arrange camps, transport and water drops.
Jordan Trail: guides and service providersEmergency
The Association's day pages give the Tourism Police hotline, 117777: say that you are hiking the Jordan Trail, your nationality, your location and the day's map number. Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to arrive.
Jordan Trail: plan your tripGetting there
Connect your journey
Travel around Oyoun al-Theeb to Wadi Zarqa Ma'in.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Arriving in Jordan
Many nationalities can buy a one-month tourist visa on arrival for 40 JD, but not at the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge. Arriving through Aqaba, the visa is free if you also leave through Aqaba; leaving by another border, you pay for it. Leaving by land costs a 10 JD exit tax unless you entered and left at Aqaba.
Jordan Trail: arriving in JordanBuses
Buses from Amman reach Ajloun, Salt, Madaba, Karak, Tafila and Wadi Musa, with JETT buses to Wadi Musa and Aqaba; Beit Idis has buses from Irbid. Many trail ends are reached only by private car, pickup or jeep: each day page says how.
Jordan Trail: transportationTake your trip with you
Offline maps
Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline: the desert days have long stretches without signal.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
About this map
The Jordan Trail Association gives more than 675 km; its 35 main day pages add up to 659.6 km. The line here is the Association's day relations on OpenStreetMap (superroute 19065729, planet of 27 September 2026), 645 km, walked from Um Qais to Aqaba and cut where each day ends. Day 602 is mapped 1.9 km shorter than its page says, and day 806 ends on Aqaba's southern edge, about 5 km before the beach where the official day finishes. The variants (Rmeimeen to Fuhais, Fuheis to Iraq al-Amir, the Mumeya side trail) are not on the line. Times and difficulty are the Association's.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 28 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Jordan Trail Association: the routeMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation