Less than 10 kilometers to the west of the city of Abha lies Jebel Sawdah, the most iconic natural feature of Aseer Province. It is the highest place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sawdah is in the Sarawat Mountains, a range of cliffs that run along the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula from Jordan all the way to Yemen.

​Moshebah Hills

The road leading to Jebel Sawdah from Abha runs through the hilly landscapes of Moshebah that break all stereotypes a person can have about Saudi Arabia. The landscape is all about mountains and greenery that are the total opposite of the sand dune landscapes, and instead reflect what can be found around the Mediterranean Sea.

The highest point of the area is Sehab park, at over 2900 meters, on the edge of the Sarawat Mountains. This park offers stunning viewpoints over both sides. To the west are the vertiginous cliffs of the Sarawat Mountains, and to the east the terraces that underline the beautiful Moshebah Hills.

​Jebel Sawdah

Jebel Sawdah is the highest point of Saudi Arabia but instead of a sharp peak like the Jebel Al-Lawz in Tabuk Province it is just a low hill lying on a plateau which is already over 2900 meters high.

Unfortunately the top of Sawdah itself is a private area but the parking area at the bottom of the hill already offers breathtaking viewpoints on the impressively high cliffs of the Sarawat Moutains.

​Weather

At such altitudes Moshebah and Sawdah are among the few places were snow can fall. The temperatures in winter are regularly below 5°C even during the day. Another weather feature to expect in this area is the fog that results from the rising hot and humid air coming from the Red Sea, resulting in condensation when it reaches the high lands of Sawdah and Moshebah.

​How to visit Sawdah and Moshebah

​Roads lead to both places but the one to Sehab park is more sinuous and steep so extra caution is advised when raining.

Abha is the capital of Aseer Province and has the 6th largest population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is famous for being the highest large city of Saudi Arabia at over 2 200 meters, some parts of the city being even around 2 400 meters. With such an altitude it is not surprising that Abha benefits from milder climatic conditions that most the rest of the country with day temperatures ranging from 15°C to 35°C.  What is more unexpected is that while the rest of the country has one rainy season in March and May, Aseer Province enjoys a second one in July and August thanks to the Indian monsoon that reaches the southwest of Saudi Arabia.

​History of Abha

Having been fertile for millennia, despite climate changes, and located to the north of the ancient Kingdoms of Sheeba and Himyar, within the territory named by the Romans 'Arabia Felix', which was crossed by caravans for more than a millennium, Abha and the Province of Aseer have a long history. Although there are no remains dating back to those times in Abha itself, some ancient carvings close to Habalah and the archeological site of Jerash just 30 kilometers away are testimonies of this rich past.

In 1918, the Prince of Asir, Yahya bin Hasun Al Ayde, grandson of Ibn Ayed, returned to his family throne and conquered Abha. In 1920, during his campaign to regain the control over Central Arabia, Abd Al-Aziz Al-Saud sent his warriors, known as Ikhwan, to occupy Aseer Province, a situation that was formalized in 1934 with the signing of the Treaty of Taif between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Aseer Province was still largely unknown by the west when Harry St John Philby explored it in 1932 but it was only finally no longer a blank spot on the map when he published his observations in 1952.

​Places to visit in Abha

​Abha Museums

​Al-Muftaha Museum

Shada Palace

Jebel Al-Akhdar - The Green Mountain

Located in the southern part of Abha, Jebel Akhdar is a green hill that is around 2340 meters high. It offers one of the best viewpoints over the whole city and its surrounding mountains, as far as the edge of the majestic Sarawat mountains.

A road leads to the top of Jebel Akhdar (a small fee is collected at the bottom) where there is parking and a cafeteria to welcome visitors who have climbed to the top to admire the stunning view over Abha. 

Al-Basta

Shamasan Fort

Ottomans occupied the western part of the Arabian Peninsula, as far as, Yemen from the beginning of the 16th century CE, including Abha. They built several landmarks of the city including a bridge at Al-Basta district and the Shamsan Fort that overlooks the northern part of Abha.

​​Abha dam

With nearby mountains as high as 3000 meters Abha is exposed to possible flooding that is prevented nowadays by a 300 meter dam located on the west of the city. In addition to protecting the population the dam has generated a one kilometer long lake with unexpected and beautiful landscapes in Abha where the blue of the lake contrasts with the city and the green vegetation of the area.

​How to visit Abha

Abha is easily accessible either by road or by plane by. If you want to make the most of it we suggest you go with our guides who will also take you to more enchanting places around the city.

Tabuk Province has one of the most incredible concentrations of natural wonders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including many still to be discovered. In between the newly famous Jibal Hisma and Wadi Qaraqir is a more discreet but fascinating place, Al-Shaq. This name means the tear (or rip) which makes sense as here the earth has been literally torn apart by  tectonic forces. That is the reason why this place is also known as the Great Canyon of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Shaq is just 4 kilometers away from the road between Dhiba and the city of Tabuk, near a village called Shiqry. While heading west from the road there is nothing remarkable except the elegant sandstone formations that are found everywhere in that area. After 3 kilometers some large stone circles appear on the ground that are probably another example of the numerous Bronze Age (3^rd millennium BCE) tombs of the Arabian Peninsula.

But once past those tombs, what was just a shallow dry valley on the south becomes a crack in the ground that keeps on spreading until becoming a wide and impressively deep canyon. It is actually possible to be at the exact place where the breach appears and stand with feet on both sides of it.

​Al-Shaq has a little secret feature hidden in the shallow valley that becomes the canyon, a so-called mushroom rock, meaning a rock whose base is narrower than its upper part. Try to find it!

​How to visit Al-Shaq

​Tour operators organizing trips to Al-Shaq

The Jebel Al-Lawz, whose name means the almond mountain in Arabic, is one of the most mythical mountains of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most people think that Saudi Arabia is just a vast extent of sand dunes but with its summit at 2 549 meters above sea level Jebel Al-Lawz is the highest mountain of Tabuk Province. Indeed, it is still lower than the 3000 meter Jebel Sawdah in Aseer Province and many other peaks in Bahah, Jizan, and Makkah Provinces that range between 2 600 and 3 000 meters. But the Jebel Al-Lawz has other assets.

First it really has a mountain shape with a high summit dominating the whole province, whereas many other higher peaks are in fact the highest point of a cliff along the Sarawat range. As an example, the highest point of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Jebel Sawdah, is in fact a low hill that lays on a plateau already 2 900 meters above sea level. On the contrary the majestic silhouette of the imposing Jebel Al-Lawz is visible dozens of kilometers away from all directions.

Secondly the Jebel Al-Lawz is probably the only place in Saudi Arabia where snow falls nearly every year. As surprising as it sounds Saudi Arabia does have regular snowfalls thanks to its many mountains above 2 500 meters. But as the Jebel Al-Lawz is the highest mountain in the north of the country and it is located beyond the northern tip of the Red Sea and its warm waters, this mountain is more exposed to low temperatures and sees snows more often than any other area of Saudi Arabia.

Jebel Al-Lawz is in the ancient land of Madyan where the Prophet Moses lived for ten years with his father-in-law the Prophet Shu'ayb and where he brought his people that fled Egypt. Some consider Jebel Al-Lawz to be the real Mount Sinai where Moses had a mythical experience with God, as mentioned in the Holy Quran.

​How to visit Jebel Al-Lawz

Jebel Al-Lawz is visible from many places but there is only one road that leads to the top. Unfortunately there is a military base that doesn’t allow access to the very top of the massif. The last viewpoint on the road is slightly below 2 100 meters and offers some stunning sights on eastern side of the massif over Jibal Hisma in the distance.

There are numerous valleys and tracks that lead towards the center of the massif but it is important to note that access through these tracks is restricted and local Bedouins may ask travellers without special permission to go back to the road.

Tayeb Al-Ism is one of the magical natural wonders of Saudi Arabia that takes visitors by surprise. This incredible natural feature of Tabuk Province is located on the Gulf of Aqaba, just 15 kilometers north of the coastal town of Maqna.

When approaching by the road that runs along the turquoise waters and white beaches of the Gulf of Aqaba, what strikes people first is the imposing shape of the 600-meter-high granite massif of the Tayeb Al-Ism, whose sharp edges fall into the Gulf of Aqaba.

While getting closer to a nice little palm grove ornamenting the bottom of the cliffs, the mountain side that looks towards the Gulf suddenly reveals the stunningly high edges of a narrow canyon whose entrance is just few dozen meters from the sea. There the granite massif looks like it's been torn in two by a supranatural force.

From the bridge the Tayeb Al-Ism visitors see another marvel, a small stream of crystal clear water than runs through the gravel all year long. As a result, the wadi hosts numerous palm trees and reeds that create little oases surrounding by the vertiginous sides of the canyon.

The grandiosity of Tayeb Al-Ism has another dimension as it is directly related to religion. The territory bordering the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba is the ancient land of Madyan (or Midian) whose capital was probably today’s city of Bada’ where monumental tombs were sculpted in the rock later by the Nabatean people. Madyan is the land where Moses spent ten years in voluntary exile after fleeing from Egypt. It is believed that when later Moses brought the people out of Egypt through the Red Sea they reached the land of Madyan at Tayeb Al-Ism, the reason why it is also called the Valley of Moses. For the same reason the wells of the nearby town of Maqna are called the Wells of Moses.

How to visit Tayeb Al-Ism

People who think that Saudi Arabia is only flat desert and sand dunes are surprised to discover that on the western part of the country are many mountainous massifs. Then they are amazed while admiring the majestic kilometer-high cliffs of the Sarawat Mountains in the southwest of Saudi Arabia, from Taif to Abha. And if they explore a bit deeper they would find an even more surprising relief, the Jibal Mussala Ibrahim (جبال مصلى إبراهيم), a granite mountain located in Al-Bahah Province, 50 kilometers from the famous marble-hill village of Zee Al-Ayn.

Unlike other mountain-like areas one can find in the west of Saudi Arabia, the Jibal Mussala Ibrahim has the shape of an alpine mountain with a difference in height of 1 700 meters from its base to its summit, that peaks at 2 222 meters. Actually its altitude is exactly the same as the Cliffs of the Sarawat just 20 kilometers to the east, making the Jibal Mussala Ibrahim look like a challenge to the erosion that has already leveled the surrounding landscape.

The Jibal Mussala Ibrahim is visible from the road that runs along the bottom of the cliffs which passes to the eastern side of the massif.

But it is possible to get much closer as a small road leads to the hidden treasure of that place: a village perched half way to the top (above 1 600 meters) whose name is Sheda (شدا).

Some other charming villages are found on the way and also some fancy stone constructions where local Bedouins probably used to live.

A driver going up the mountain to the village of Sheda experiences of a big change of climate in a short period of time as the weather is much cooler and slightly dryer at the top than at the bottom where the weather can be incredibly hot and humid, especially in summer.

How to visit Sheda?

The location of Sheda is available on GoogeMaps (under its Arabic name شدا) and, as said earlier, there is a road that leads to the village which is indicated as "Jibal Sheda Al-A'la".

​Tour  operators organizing trips to Sheda