"Jabal al Hijaz" Jabal al Hijaz by TomorrowsAngel

Jabal al Hijaz Travel Guide: 2 reviews and 13 photos

I've been to Taif, located in the Jabal Al Hijaz mountains twice.
Both times it has been in summer. Up in these mountains it is hot and dry during the day, and pretty cool at night.

hijaz mountains

Jabal al Hijaz is geographically located on the western coast of Saudi Arabia. It is made up of two mountain ranges separated by a gap near the city of Mecca.
The northern range in the Hijaz seldom exceeds 2,100m, and the elevation gradually decreases toward the south to about 600m around Mecca.
The landscape of Hjiaz is varied, to west there are rugged mountains dropping steeply to the Red Sea, eroded slopes, fertile plains, and wadis (dry riverbeds).
To the east the land is not as steep and are wadis lead the rare rainfalls down to the plains. Scattered oases, draw water from springs and wells in the vicinity of the wadis, permit some settled agriculture. Of these oases, the largest and most important is Medina.

hijaz mountains

South of Mecca, the mountains exceed 2400m in several places with some peaks topping 3000m. The rugged western face drops steeply to the coastal plain, the Tihamah lowlands, whose width averages only 65km.
Along the seacoast are salty tidal plains, backed by potentially rich alluvial plains. Relatively well-watered and fertile upper slopes behind are extensively terraced to allow maximum land use.
The eastern slope of the mountain range in Asir is gentle, melding into a plateau region that drops gradually into the Rub al Khali. Although rainfall is infrequent, fertile wadis, the most important are the Wadis Bishah and Tathlith, make oasis agriculture possible on a relatively large scale.
A number of lava beds (harrat) scar the surfaces of the plateaus east of the mountain ranges in the Hijaz and Asir and give evidence of fairly recent volcanic activity. The largest is Khaybar, north of Medina.

Last visit to Jabal al Hijaz: Aug 2003
Intro Updated Sep 18, 2003
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Reviews (2)

high altitude & low humidity Warnings and Dangers (1)

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Taif - Jeddah Escarpment Road Transportation (1)

This highway would have to have been quite an engineering feat, and difficult to build. Breathtaking and majestic, the... more travel advice

Travelogues (1)

Written Aug 22, 2003

8 photos

Camel Races

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Comments (3)

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iandsmith Sep 1, 2004 at 1:20 AM

Never heard of the place, very interesting
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pepples46 Aug 29, 2003 at 2:29 PM

ribafish...I don't think so...just dust!! anyway, would like to see such a race one day. thanx Bec for all the fine infos and great pics
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ribafish Aug 26, 2003 at 2:49 AM

Any beer down there?