The Muttrah Geotrek

Hike the old trading trail through the mountains behind Muttrah

If you want to go on a moderately easy hike with amazing views without even having to leave Muscat, this is the hike for you! The hike starts at Riyam Park and finishes near the Muttrah Souk, and the whole thing takes less than 3 hours.

See the faint path running diagonally up the side of the mountain? That is the start of the trail.

When you pull into the parking lot at Riyam park, look at the mountains surrounding you, and you’ll see a rock path leading up the mountain. To start the hike, walk back towards the houses directly behind the car park area. It feels like you’re walking into someone’s back yard, but soon you’ll see stone steps leading up and the trail is pretty easy to find from there.

The beginning of the path

The initial climb up the stone stairs and stone path is probably the most strenuous part of the hike. The rocks can be slippery from wear and if you’re scared of heights it can be a little hairy. But it really isn’t too bad. My seven-year old nephew easily completed it.

A particularly easy section along the mountain ridge

Don’t lose sight of the flags marking the path

There are a few spots where the path continues straight, but you are supposed to turn, so keep a look-out for that. In the winter months there can also be pools of water in the path, and making your way around those can be interesting. The last time we did the hike there was far more water and greenery than expected due to a few rainy weeks in the months prior.

When there’s water, it’s fun to figure out the best way to get around it!

Look at the vegetation cascading down the rocks!

For this part of Oman, that is a *lot* of greenery

There are yellow, white and red painted trail markers, and in some cases red arrows, pointing you in the right direction. You’ll get stunning views of Riyam Park and the coast, plus a great bird’s-eye view of the Sultan’s yachts (yes, that’s plural).

Riyam Park

See those boats that look like cruise ships? Those are the Sultan’s yachts. He’s a lucky dude.

The trail ends in a cemetery and from here you follow the road straight to the Muttrah corniche. You can easily visit the Mutrah fort on your walk back to the car, which is definitely a worthwhile detour.

Muttrah Fort on a rare cloudy day

Wadi Tiwi

One of several pay-off spots on the hike

Happy New Year to all my awesome readers! 2018 was pretty great and I’m excited to see what 2019 has in store. Let’s get the awesomeness started! 🙂

We are finally in prime wadi hike season. Some people are able to do wadi hikes all year long, but I am not one of them. I don’t handle physical activity in the heat very well and I don’t particularly like being really hot; my face turns bright red, my body overheats, and it isn’t pretty. But now that the soaring temperatures of the summer have passed, it’s time for some hiking!

The view down the wadi during the drive in

Wadi Tiwi is the perfect wadi if you’re looking for a good balance of swimming, scrambling over rocks, and hiking. It’s only two and a half hours from Muscat, and you can easily do the whole hike and return before sundown. The hike takes about three to four hours round-trip, although it can be longer if you stop for lunch, swimming, jumping off rocks, etc.  It is physically challenging, but it won’t leave you feeling wrecked. I’d say it’s harder than Wadi Shab and Wadi Damm, but easier than Wadi Al Arbaeen.

The view down the wadi as you hike in

OmanTripper, one of my favorite resources for adventures in Oman, has an awesome post about Wadi Tiwi with lots of helpful info. The drive into the wadi takes about 30 minutes, and parts of it are really steep and narrow. At one point there was another vehicle coming the other way and we had to back up down the mountain to find a section of road wide enough for them to pass. If you do park someplace, make sure other vehicles can still get around you! The last section of the drive down to the trailhead (GPS: 22.7764288, 59.2247468) is definitely the steepest part of the drive and you need 4WD.  From the trailhead, there’s a staircase to the left of the parking lot that you can follow down. From the bottom of the stairs, turn right and just follow the wadi!

Lovely Wadi Tiwi

There is an easy gravel path to follow for a short distance, and once you start to hit some big boulders you’ll go up to the right, past a thorny tree, then back down to the wadi bed. Side note: there are lots of thorny trees and bushes on this hike, so watch out.

Eventually you’ll cross the creek and start hiking along the other side. There’s a section where it looks like there’s no easy way to go, but if you look to the right along the wall of the wadi, there are 3 cement stairs. There’s another part where there’s a cairn marking an opening through some huge boulders that you can squeeze through.

Other than that, there’s not a whole lot I can say about how to make your way through the wadi. Everyone’s strategy is different; mine is to try to use the water as much as possible and swim when I can rather than climb. But the fun part of any wadi is finding the best path!

The shallow stream eventually gives way to large pools and boulders. Now the real fun begins!

Swimming the pools and thick slimy algae. The water really is that color!

You either swim through the water or figure out how the climb the rocks. I usually choose to swim.

There are lots of neat rock formations and boulders along the way

About 90 minutes in you’ll reach a beautiful spot at a large pool with jumping-off rocks and a nice flat area for a picnic. From here you can climb up the waterfall on the right and go further back into the wadi. Eventually you’ll reach a large-ish waterfall at which point you can’t really go any further unless you use the rope over on the left to climb up the rocks. If you’re a braver person that I am, you can climb up here, go through some date palm fields, and follow the road back to the car. I, however, with visions of compound fractures and bashed-in skulls, opted out of this route and chose to hike back the way we came to return to the parking lot. The folks that climbed up and followed the road got back to the car about 5 minutes before we did, so you don’t save much time by taking that route.

All things considered, we really enjoyed Wadi Tiwi. Just make sure that you bring plenty of sunscreen, water, snacks, and, of course, a camera!

The best spot to stop for lunch and a leisurely swim. Plus jumping-off-rocks!