Israel and You Spaces and Places in Israel
Hexagon Pool – בריכת המשושים
One of the best rewards of visiting the Golan (and the reason we visited this spot in the first place) is to experience the little known “Hexagon Pools” (Brechat HaMeshushim, in Hebrew) part of the Meshushim Nature Reserve in central Golan Heights. The pool it self can be found at the bottom of a canyon. These pools feature hexagonal black basalt pillars that make up its walls caused by cooling of molten rock in the area long ago. It is the most perfect example of volcanic hexagons found on earth. The molecules of lava are round but When they cool and become solid they take a polygonal shape which is the closest to their round shape (doing so with the minimum energy loss possible).
The pool trail, marked with red trail markings, takes you down to the meshushim pool. The return is uphill, making this a moderate hike due to the steep climb. The climb is about 20 minutes going down, and another 30 minutes back up.
If you would like to turn this visit into a longer hike, take the 3 kilometer circular stream trail. This trail, marked with blue trail markings, takes you deeper into the canyon, and requires climbing a 3 meter wall using the handholds in the rock. The trail then leads to the Meshushim pool, before returning along the pool trail.
Additional trail to the Zavitan Stream ending at the Yehudiya parking lot: a 4-6 hour walk. Do not start out on this trail after 11 A.M.
The short Lookout Trail leading from the parking lot to the Meshushim Pool is at its most spectacular in the spring, when it reveals the wide-open, flat, green spaces of the Yehudiya Forest with its Mount Tabor oaks. This forest-park landscape is typical of the central Golan Heights. The Lookout Trail is wheelchair accessible.
Swimming in the pool: There are no lifeguards and the water is deep and very cold. Jumping into the water is dangerous and prohibited.
One can see hundreds of hexagonal rock columns, caused by the slow cooling of molten rocks in some 3 million years.The columns reach a height of approximately 5 metres (16 ft), and most have five or six sides. The diameter of each column is between 30 and 40 centimetres (1.0 and 1.3 ft).
The Hexagon Pool and the Meshushim Nature Reserve are a part of the 16,500 acre spread Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve in Golan Heights. The reserve appears to be quite large as eleven hiking trails are depicted in the official brochure, something you don’t find in a single nature reserve.
The easiest access is 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north of the village of Had Nes on Route 888 where a junction leads to the Nature Reserve. From there a 30 minute downhill walk leads to the pool.
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