Baniyas Travel Guide

 Martin_S. Says:  Take your time on your approch to the waterfall and you will be rewarded with many a fantastic sight, here you can see one of the trees with a intricately knarled trunk.You can find out more at the National Park website :http://www.parks.org.il/ 

 Martin_S. Says:  But even here in the center of a beautiful nature preserve you can see the fight for life being carried on. This tree found a niche in a rock wall and proceeded to literally pry apart the wall to make a place for its life. 

 Martin_S. Says:  Near the stream you can find this drastically curved tree trunk, it looks like it was fighting for a place near the stream or sun, was blocked and then decided to "go around" and come in another way. 

 Martin_S. Says:  This detail of one of the wall carvings shows what loving work was put into these places, this was carved directly into the rock face of the mountain. 

 Martin_S. Says:  This is the altar area the actual Shrine itself. Much of the area was destroyed by an earthquake, which they also say shifted the waterway...when the shire was built it is thought that the source of the spring came directly out of the mountain side at the alter area, today... 

 Martin_S. Says:  The path leading to the shrine was designed to lead you over and through the spring waters of the Baniyas Spring, it is a refreshing way to tour, you just step across the small cuts in the stone through which water is being channeled. 

 Martin_S. Says:  The national park of Baniyas takes it name from the the Hellenistic God PAN, the name Pan is difficult to pronounce in semetic language (Arabic) so got distorted to Ban, thereby the name Baniyas. The approach to the shrine itself is over a series of stone channels where... 

 Martin_S. Says:  The Baniyas waterfall is the largest waterfall in Israel, both in terms of height and quantity. The water is snow melt from the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria. But when I say "largest", I mean largest in Israel, and in international terms it is small, no, not small,... 

 Martin_S. Says:  Here is the spot to place yourself on the nearest rock, take off your shoes and dip your toes in the waters of Baniyas. Be prepared for a shock, the water really is ice cold. Do not attempt to swim here, not only is it forbidden but the water is very swift and full of... 

 Martin_S. Says:  This is almost as close as you can get to the falls, more than 30 years ago when I first began going here there were no fences and the "pool" just below the waterfall was open and you could swim here. Today it is forbidden. 

 Martin_S. Says:  This is the final approach to the waterfall, at this point you can contiune on to the waterfall itself or turn toward the trail that takes you to the Pan Shrine in the neighbouring nature reserve. There is also a roman villa on the way to the Pan Shrine.