Jordan Trail · Stage 24
Petra by the back door: down Wadi Ghurab on a Nabataean route and a rock terrace to the Monastery, then through the city to Wadi Musa: 12.6 km, 3 to 4 hours, easy; not waymarked. Entry needs a Petra pass: the Association says it can now be bought at the new ticket office at Little Petra.
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
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 start
Camping spot
The Ammarin Bedouin camp and wild camps near Little Petra (Siq al-Barid). The next day enters Petra by the back door: the Association says a Petra pass can now be bought at the new ticket office at Little Petra. Hosts and phone numbers: the Jordan Trail Association's day page (read 28 September 2026).
Stage end · overnight
Town
Wadi Musa, the town at Petra's gate, has many hotels. Minibuses to Amman's south bus station and Ma'an, a daily JETT bus from Amman, and a daily but irregular bus to Wadi Rum. The trail enters Petra by the back way past the Monastery: the Association says passes can now be bought at the new ticket office at Little Petra (50, 55 or 60 JD for one, two or three days). Days 24 and 25 both pass through Petra, so a two-day pass covers both. No food can be bought on the route after Wadi Musa until Humeima, five days on. Hosts and phone numbers: the Jordan Trail Association's day page (read 28 September 2026).
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Make it your trip
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.
The 35 official days, north to south.
Plan this journeyThe green north: Roman Gadara and Pella, oak woods and village homestays.
Plan this journeyOlive hills and villages from Ajloun Castle to the Ottoman town of Salt.
Plan this journeyOver the hills to Iraq al-Amir and Mount Nebo, down the Roman road above the Dead Sea.
Plan this journeyAcross the Dead Sea canyons of Hidan and Mujib to Karak Castle, with wild camps.
Plan this journeyPlateau villages, the Burbeita hot springs and Wadi Hasa to the stone village of Dana.
Plan this journeyDown Wadi Dana to Feynan, along Wadi Araba and into Petra by the back door.
Plan this journeyOut 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 journeyAcross 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 journeyLoading the forecast for low point (863 m) and high point (1,115 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (863 m) and the highest point (1,115 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good |
| High point, day / night | 12°/2° | 14°/4° | 18°/7° | 23°/11° | 27°/15° | 31°/17° | 32°/19° | 32°/19° | 30°/17° | 26°/14° | 19°/8° | 14°/4° |
| Low point, day / night | 14°/4° | 16°/5° | 20°/8° | 25°/12° | 29°/16° | 33°/19° | 34°/21° | 34°/21° | 32°/19° | 28°/15° | 21°/10° | 16°/5° |
| Rain, mm | 38 | 34 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 20 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 10 h 23 | 11 h 06 | 11 h 56 | 12 h 53 | 13 h 40 | 14 h 05 | 13 h 56 | 13 h 17 | 12 h 23 | 11 h 29 | 10 h 39 | 10 h 12 |
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.
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: waterThe 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 fitnessLearn 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 cultureThe 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 providersThe 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
Travel around Little Petra to Petra.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
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 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
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.
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 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