Jabal Soudah (Jabal Sawda), Asir province, Saudi Arabia
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 4.78 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,959 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 387 ft
- Max elevation
- 9,668 ft
- TrailRank
- 51
- Min elevation
- 7,083 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Moving time
- 2 hours 33 minutes
- Time
- 3 hours 48 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1383
- Uploaded
- March 23, 2024
- Recorded
- March 2024
near Sawdā’ (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
Viewed 65 times, downloaded 3 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Jabal Soudah
Jabal Sawda (جَبَل ٱلسُّوْدَة) is a broad mountain in Asir province in the southern part of the Kingdom with an elevation of 3015 meters. The top of the mountain separates a huge plateau where Al Soudah village and Abha city are located from a huge escarpment. As far as I know, it is not recognized as the highest mountain of KSA anymore. Jabal Ferwa occupies the podium now.
Trail
As far as I know, the trail is very old and was used for trading connecting the coast and the Abha plateau. There are not many trail marks but the trail is clear, only finding the trailhead can be tricky. The trail is in great condition. While going up you will experience how climate and landscape change from hot to sub-tropical. Closer to the end the trail became lavish green and it got much cooler closer to the summit.
Difficulty
Technically it is an easy hike. There is no technical climbing and exposed locations. The trail is clear, but better to have this GPX from wikiloc to find the trailhead. However, the hike has a 900 m elevation gain. Make sure you have good enough fitness for this. Also do not flirt with baboons, if you meet them. There are many baboons in the area. Do not show them food etc.
Parking
While driving in Al Qus on 2442 highway take exit at 18.277314, 42.325042. After that, you will drive on a narrow steep paved road. We had 4x4, but I believe any car can do it. We parked here 18.259124, 42.328130 just behind a building.
Must-have gear
1) High-cut hiking shoes
2) 2-3 liters of water (depending on the season), electrolytes, food
3) Sun-protective clothing,
4) Windbreaker
Jabal Sawda (جَبَل ٱلسُّوْدَة) is a broad mountain in Asir province in the southern part of the Kingdom with an elevation of 3015 meters. The top of the mountain separates a huge plateau where Al Soudah village and Abha city are located from a huge escarpment. As far as I know, it is not recognized as the highest mountain of KSA anymore. Jabal Ferwa occupies the podium now.
Trail
As far as I know, the trail is very old and was used for trading connecting the coast and the Abha plateau. There are not many trail marks but the trail is clear, only finding the trailhead can be tricky. The trail is in great condition. While going up you will experience how climate and landscape change from hot to sub-tropical. Closer to the end the trail became lavish green and it got much cooler closer to the summit.
Difficulty
Technically it is an easy hike. There is no technical climbing and exposed locations. The trail is clear, but better to have this GPX from wikiloc to find the trailhead. However, the hike has a 900 m elevation gain. Make sure you have good enough fitness for this. Also do not flirt with baboons, if you meet them. There are many baboons in the area. Do not show them food etc.
Parking
While driving in Al Qus on 2442 highway take exit at 18.277314, 42.325042. After that, you will drive on a narrow steep paved road. We had 4x4, but I believe any car can do it. We parked here 18.259124, 42.328130 just behind a building.
Must-have gear
1) High-cut hiking shoes
2) 2-3 liters of water (depending on the season), electrolytes, food
3) Sun-protective clothing,
4) Windbreaker
Waypoints
Car park
7,087 ft
Waypoint
Summit
Comments (2)
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Hello! Thank you for posting this 🙏 Did you come back down the same way up? How long did it take?
Hi Georges, we had a car on the top. You can go down the same way. It took us 3.5 h to go up. We had many breaks. I expect about 2.5 h to go down the same way