Hula Valley, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, just west of the Golan Heights, is one of the most underrated areas to visit in Israel. With an incredible birdwatching site, rich history, and several beautiful places to visit, it is certainly one of the best and most impressive regions in Israel. Here’s everything you should know about visiting Hula Valley.
Birdlife in Hula Valley
The Hula Valley is a very important stopover spot for migratory birds, and visiting Hula Lake Park during the migration season is an extraordinary experience.
The most striking phenomenon in Hula Lake is the amazing concentration of the gray crane – a migratory species, which breeds in Scandinavia, Ukraine, and Russia and migrates to Africa through here. Every year, hundreds of thousands of cranes make a stop in Hula Halley, and on peak days, you can see tens of thousands of cranes in one day here.
Beyond the Gray Cranes, there are several other impressive birds to see here. Particularly prominent are the birds of prey – the Greater spotted eagle and the Eastern imperial eagle, two species in global danger of extinction, which winter around Hula Lake in relatively high numbers. They are often observed feeding on crane carcasses, or other waterfowl, in the fields around the lake.
The Hula Lake and its surroundings are used by a large variety of other, smaller birds of prey, such as the Western marsh harrier, Hen harrier, and Long-legged buzzard, which are quite common in the area during the migration period.
In the lake itself, you can see large amounts of waterfowl – ducks of various species including gray duck, Eurasian wigeonand often also Greater white-fronted goose.
The History of Hula Valley
The physical conditions of the Hula Valley – abundant water and fertile alluvial land, streams, and a lake rich in fish and fowl – have been a major attraction to human civilizations since ancient times. However, Hula Valley also posed difficulties to man, such as winter flooding, high groundwater, and trespassing difficulties. The valley’s human history has been largely shaped by the ability of its inhabitants to drain their lands and establish irrigation systems that allow efficient use of water without causing flooding.
The earliest evidence of human presence in the Hula Valley was recorded at the Gesher Benot Ya’akov site, which showed human activity in the area from 780 thousand years ago. From then until today, the valley has been continuously inhabited by humans and houses prehistoric and historical sites of world importance.
In the 1950s, shortly after the establishment of the state of Israel, the Hula Lake and the surrounding swamps were drained by the Israeli government. That was done in order to prevent the spread of malaria from the swamps and make the land of Hula Valley suitable for agriculture. However, fairly quickly, this move turned out to be extremely harmful to the environment and financially unjustified. For that reason, in 1994, the Hula Valley has been re-flooded, and the new Hula Lake that you can see here today was created.
Local Tips for a visit in Hula Valley
Visiting the Hula Valley can be an amazing experience if you plan it right. Try to arrive around sunrise or stay until sunset, when the birds are most active, especially during the big migration seasons in autumn and spring. If you’re planning to rent a golf cart or join a safari wagon tour, it’s best to book ahead, since they often sell out on busy days. Bringing your own binoculars and a camera with good zoom will make wildlife spotting much easier. If you prefer a quieter experience, weekday mornings are usually the calmest. Also come prepared for the sun: bring water, sunscreen, and a hat because much of the 8.5-km trail is exposed.
On the other hand, there are a few practical drawbacks to keep in mind. Renting golf carts or special bikes can be expensive, especially for families, and the typical 1.5–2 hour rental window can feel a bit rushed. The park also gets crowded on weekends and Jewish holidays, which may mean waiting for rentals. In addition, the main trail has very little shade, making summer visits quite hot and winter trips exposed to wind and rain.
Best sites to visit in Hula Valley
Hula Lake
The Hula Lake is the best place to visit in order to experience the incredibly rich birdlife of Hula Valley. Here, you can see huge concentrations of hundreds of bird species, and enjoy beautiful views of the whole region. In addition, Hula Lake features a great visitor center and several guided tours, which will get you to the best birdwatching spots around the lake, and enable you to learn more about this unique site. Hula Lake is a must-visit site in the region, especially during spring and autumn when the bird migration is at its peak.
Entrance fee:
Adults: 35 ILS
Kids: 21 ILS
Operating hours:
Sunday – Thursday 09:00-17:30.
Friday and Saturday 06:30-17:30.
Tel Anafa
Tel Anafa, located in front of Kibbutz Shamir, is an ancient mound that includes remains of a settlement from the Chalcolithic period to the Hellenistic period. The mound was created due to basalt that slid from a volcanic eruption from the Golan Heights.
The visit to Tel Anafa includes a short walking route that climbs the mound. From here, you will get rewarded with a great view of the green fields and settlements in the Hula Valley, the Naftali mountains, the Golan Heights, and Lebanon. The year-round green hill mainly features plants like Pistacia atlantica
and the Mastic trees, but the main attraction here is the carpets of daffodils that, usually around December, cover the hill between the ruins of the ancient villa from the Hellenistic period. In the fall, the mound is covered with carpets of Drimia.
Ami Promenade
A beautiful, 1 km/0.6 mile-long Promenade along the northern part of Jordan River, that runs through the picturesque towns of Kfar Blum, Gesher Yosef, and Kibbutz Sde Nehemiah. The promenade is named after Ami Peled, a high school student who was killed in 1990 in a car accident. The well-kept boardwalk includes great picnic and bathing spots in the cool waters of the Jordan River. It’s perfect for swimming in the summer or for watching the powerful stream in the rainy winters when the River is too strong for bathing. Along the entire length of the boardwalk, you’ll find vine arbors, flowers, and wild trees, as well as stone tablets with verses from the Bible in which the name of the Jordan River is mentioned.
Naftali Mountains Scenic Road
a beautiful scenic road for cars that runs parallel to the Israel National Trail in the Naftali Mountains range. The road starts in front of Kfar Giladi and ends near Kibbutz Yiftah. Along the way, there are spectacular observation points of the entire Hula Valley. The road is especially beautiful in winter and spring when the blossoms are at their peak and Mount Hermon is covered in snow but is beautiful and highly recommended at any time of the year.
The Prehistoric Man Museum
The museum, located in Kibbutz Ma’ayan Baruch, contains an extraordinary collection, on a global scale, of prehistoric findings from the Hula Valley region. Those include a relic from the Natufian period from 9000 years ago from the Einan site in the Hula Valley of a 50-year-old woman and a puppy who was buried alongside her. This incredible finding is one of the oldest evidence in the world of a relationship between humans and dogs. This and more, make the Prehistoric Man Museum a must-visit site for history enthusiasts.
