Mountain trail
Hiking through Lebanon
By: Siem Kersten
There are several possibilities to enjoy a holiday in Libanon.You can of course choose to go out without a guide, but realize that these guides are well aware of the customs and habits in the areas you are going through. A guide/supervisor is therefore recommended.
There are a number of organizations that are committed to hiking tours through Lebanon.
The LMT – Mountain Lebanon Trail is a Non-Governmental Organization in Lebanon that works to protect Lebanon's longest hiking trail and preserve these endangered mountains.
In 2007, the LMT built a 470-kilometre route. The path is divided into 27 sections, each of which can be walked in one day. The route stretches from the village of Andqet in the far north to Marjaayoun in the south of the country.
It runs along fields, orchards and cedar forests and hikers come across lakes, waterfalls, ruins and chapels in rocks along the way. The trail passes through some of Lebanon's best-known natural areas such as Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve and the Qadisha Valley, which is famous for the stone monasteries and churches towering high above the valley. But it also runs through the less crowded, but just as special Wadi Jahannam ('Valley of Hell') and the inaccessible mountains near Akkar.
Each year, the LMT Association organizes a month-long trek in the spring, so hikers can walk the entire route and sleep in guesthouses along the way. Some places of residence are in remote villages where visitors from Beirut would rarely come, let alone visitors from abroad. In the fall, the Association also organizes a shorter group walk of about ten days. Every year a new route has to be set out for the path, because of new development.projects.
Trail association staff have set their sights on a presidential decree designating the LMT as a national path, better protecting it from development. In the longer term, they hope for the introduction of legislation that can create national parks.
But despite those problems, the trail remains a unique opportunity to see some of the most beautiful scenery in Lebanon. Those interested in a hike on the trail, either individually or accompanied by a guide, or with one of the hiker groups, can obtain maps and information through the Lebanon Mountain Trail Association.
Lebanon Mountain Trail Association Sacre
Coeur Hospital Street Ghaleb Center, 1st Floor
Baabda, LEBANON
Open week days from 9.00 am tot 4.00 pm (UTC+3)
