Israel End to End Bike Trail

The Israel End to End Bike Trail

Devised and Revised by

Jon Lipman

The Israel End to End Bike Trail (IBT) project was started in 1997 with the aim of devising a cycle track from the northernmost point of Israel, Mount Hermon, to The Gulf of Eilat, the most southern. The overall aim was to base the trail on the 850km hiking-orientated Israel National Trail (Shvil Yisroel, INT), adapting it, so as to be suitable for bicycles in its entirety. The original project was an independent initiative by myself and the Carmel Mountain Bike Club . We believed that this end to end trail had the potential to be one of the epic cross-country trails of the world, taking in sites of unparalleled historic and natural significance, with an infinite variety of riding experiences.

Section Index

In 2005, this original IBT Project was the catalyst and inspiration for the formation of the Israel Bike Trail Planning Committee, a grouping of official land and government agencies, who had the task of making the trail a reality. The official IBT is under construction and a number of sections are actually ready and marked in the field - President Peres opened the Mitspe Ramon-Eilat section in 2013. However, it is estimated that the complete trail will not be ready yet for a number of years. The route of the official trail varies from my original project and will take in the major urban areas of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as the Golan Heights and Dead Sea areas. Interested reader/riders may like to see my Blog of my end to end ride on the planned route of the official IBT in 2009 - The Epic End to End Israel Ride.

The original IBT trail that I devised was approximately 900km and was split into 20 sections representing the distance that could be comfortably reasonably covered in one day. Much interest was created by my project within the cycling community in Israel and from cycle-tourists abroad.

These pages are still an independent initiative replacing my original IBT website , and provides the basic information in English for the cycling community worldwide, on how to ride the IBT now in its entirety. It draws on the plans of the Israel Bike Trail Committee and on the sections of the trail already built. Where the official trail routing has not been finally decided, there are suggestions based on my experience of riding the trail and GPS data I have collected. As the project can be considered work in progress, all this routing information will, hopefully, be updated in future versions of the website

To go to the new Israel End to End Bike Trail website, press the link below: