Wadi Naqab & The Red Wall

Wadi Naqab, an area of the mountains to the east of Ras al Khaimah, is an area of outstanding natural beauty that a friend of mine had recommended visiting, especially since I'd started exploring more of the wonderful hikes that there are to be found in the United Arab Emirates. Located approximately 130km (1.5 hours drive) from Dubai, this seasonal watercourse channels down from the heights of the Hajar range, with rainwater pouring through a series of narrow, twisting gorges, via a plethora of plunge pools (dry most of the year), into the gradually widening wadi. The power and abrupt nature of the waters, when they do make an appearance, can be immense and I know several people, all with extensive experience of the mountains and wadis, who have been caught by surprise and had their cars claimed by flash flooding through this wadi. It is NOT an area to play in during wet and stormy weather as it's character can move from sublime paradise to hellish cruelty in an instant.

Thankfully the day I chose to visit there wasn't a single rain cloud in the sky - another classic UAE day of blue skies and pleasant (winter) temperatures. Essentially a perfect day to explore another of the country's beautiful wadis. With the fog hanging low over Dubai, the drive up north was a little slow in parts and as I turned off the main motorway and picked my way carefully through the hazy streets of small villages, the sun was not yet visible but still illuminating the scene. Then, just like that, I drove out of the fog and the mountains were there stretched out in front of me.

Given that I do not drive a 4WD (yet) I have to be a little more cautious when it comes to where and how far down unpaved roads I can venture. Keen to avoid too much additional walking either end of the hike I continued down towards the wadi until I reached a sign that very clearly stated that beyond that point it was just meant to be dam construction traffic. Taking that as my cue to park up, I found a suitably flat section of wadi to pull over onto & started preparing to head out, donning my boots and filling the Camel-Bak whilst waving to the drivers of the procession of construction trucks that were ferrying back and forth between the huge dam being built and wherever it was they were collecting their materials.

The dam currently under construction and apparently costing some $44 million to build was an impressive site, especially given it's size at over 250m in width and, apparently, 20m high. It will be interesting to return and see it full once it's finished and the waters arrive. Moving further along the wadi, which cuts into the Yanas mountain, the sounds eventually transitioned from the clanging of construction to the chirping of birds, buzzing of insects and the ever-present bleating of the ubiquitous goats that frequent every part of the mountains here. What I love about many of the wadis here is that the deeper you delve into them the more incredibly beautiful the landscapes become, with Wadi Naqab being no exception. The steep sided, multi-layered yellows, browns and reds of the moonscape rocks here point towards the fact that they were, once, part of a prehistoric seabed, a fact that I always find utterly humbling and that drives home how fleeting our time as humans has been on this planet.

The good thing, generally, about wadis is that there aren't usually too many points at which to get lost - you either walk in one way or you walk out the same way. However, at one point the wadi does indeed split in Wadi Naqab, with the right hand heading vaguely south through the mountains whilst the left fork heading on towards the Red Wall, an impressively sheer cliff face that gets it's name from the reddish colour that it adopts in certain light. So far, up until this point I had been the only person out in this part of the wadi, that I was aware of, although there was a car parked up a little along the right hand trail. A little way towards the Red Wall I was aware of a 4WD approaching from behind, which stopped to check on directions and offer me a lift. I confirmed that, as far as I was aware, based on the map data I had, we were all indeed on the right path to the Red Wall and politely turned down the lift, preferring instead to continue walking. I soon met up with the same car and ended up spending the rest of the day with Andre, from South Africa, and Rosa, from Italy, as we continued into the real hiking of the day, leaving the car under the watchful eyes of the goats.

After some initial bouldering and picking our way through the wadi, which was definitely becoming wilder in it's appearance, the trail tracked to the left and we began climbing, finding ourselves walking along exposed ledges with the wadi floor laid out below us. At no point did the trail feel unsafe, being easily wide enough and well trodden to satisfy even the most cautious hiker that they were in no real danger. Before too long we had a choice to make: climb up the slope of collapsed boulders to the right of the Red Wall and see where that path took us or continue round to the left, via a short, narrow ledge that had a metal rope anchored into the rocks to serve as a via-ferrata-style hand-rail, delving deeper into what was now becoming more of a canyon. We opted for this latter option, walking past a large UAE flag pinned to the cliff wall and entering what a sign told us was Wadi Koob.

There were, as before, photo opportunities abound, from the black rope scaling the smooth slopes of the dry waterfall, to the low ceilinged ledge along which we crawled in order to continue our exploration but that also appeared to be a particularly popular latrine for the goats. The canyon got narrower and narrower, whilst the sides became steeper and taller, the acoustics becoming more echoing and surreal. Before long, however, we arrived at a pool of water that whilst on initial inspection looked filthy, was actually very clear once the surface layer of dust and algae was disturbed. Any further progress would have required some ropes and a head for heights that none of us had that day and so we retraced our steps back to the car and the end of what had been yet another amazing hike and discovery of the natural wonder of this part of the UAE.

DISTANCE = 23km
TIME = approx 5 hours