Taninim River Nature Reserve is 10 minutes from Highway 4 and is suitable for the whole family.

Taninim River Nature Reserve View from above. Photo by Yigal Dekel

Location: Nature Reserve of the Nature and Parks Authority – Taninim River

In Waze: Taninim River Reserve

Right next to Beit Hananya and Jisr a-Zarqa. 10 minutes from Route 4. 20 minutes from Route 2 (there is a detour)

Nature Reserve of the Nature and Parks Authority – charges apply (22 NIS) or Matmon subscription

Who is a trip to Taninim River suitable for?

For everyone,but note that most of the route is not accessible, maybe a small part of the route is accessible (around the lake) but the most of it is not.

Suitable for those who want to travel without planning too much. Those who are looking for something neat, with toilets, parking, kiosk properly. Suitable for families without babies or with babies in a carrier.

A second before we start our trip – some tips for a fun trip to Taninim River

Before you go to enjoy a trip to Taninim Stream Nature Reserve or any other nature reserve, it is important to consider several things to ensure your hiking experience and protect the environment.. Here are some important points to know:

📖 Preparation in advance:
- Read the restrictions and guidelines of the nature reserve before going out on a hike.
- Check the days of operation of the reserve in advance, there may be periods when entry is forbidden or periods when entrance is free.
🧳 Safety:
- Make it clear to the people with you what rules they have to follow, and make sure everyone understands the safety instructions.
- It is important to take safety equipment such as a hat, comfortable shoes, sunscreens, and water with you.
🚯 Protecting the environment:
- Rubbish whoever gets dirty! Don’t leave garbage behind. Leave the reserve as you found it.
- Listen to the instructions and marked routes to prevent damage to the flora and fauna of the reserve.
🌧 Weather:
- Check the weather before embarking on your trip and plan your trip accordingly. It is important to be prepared for hot or cold changes.
🦊 Stay away from animals:
- If there are animals in the reserve, be careful and stay away from them. Do not approach or harass their children.
📸 Social Media:
- The Nature and Parks Reserve has a Facebook page and an Instagram page and they love to share! It is recommended to take and upload photos and videos from the reserve and tag that relevant reserve.
- To the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s Instagram

In short, it is important to prepare in advance, be safe, and maintain the environment in which you are going for a walk.

In the trial on Taninim stream

Nature reserve of the Nature and Parks Authority around the beautiful Taninim stream with antiquities that make you feel just like in the Middle Ages.

Some background on Taninim stream

Taninim Stream Nature Reserve is one of my favorite places to hike on Shabbat. Maybe it’s because I live 10 minutes away but not only. Every time friends got stuck without a creative idea for a trip my first recommendation was Taninim stream and they were always very enthusiastic about the place. The place closes a corner for a Saturday trip when you want north but not too north. And it is also suitable for any weather and comfortable for walking.

The reserve is several easy-to-walk circular trails, around a beautiful stream that flows year-round. An ancient Roman dam with a stream on one side and a lake on the other. Flour mills in water – just like they used to create water. The unfinished aqueduct – the padiha of the Romans and a fun wooden bridge over the water of the stream.

Taninim River, or “Wadi a-Zarqa” in Arabic (Blue River), is about 25 km long and begins near Ein Hashofet and Kibbutz Dalia and ends at the sea between Ma’agan Michael and Jisr a-Zarqa. Taninim River is special and the last of the streams that flow into the sea naturally and are free of sewage.

History and rumors about the stream

Crocodile stream? Are there crocodiles there? Really sucks but no there isn’t, there used to be. There are plenty of fairy tales about how crocodiles got to the stream.

One legend has it that 2000 years ago the Romans brought the Nile crocodiles to participate in gladiator battles that took place in Caesarea and Shawnee (not far away). A cruel fact, until 1996 there was a “ man in a crocodile ” fighting laws in the country (there was a fence, terrible, but that’s another issue.

There is some kind of legend about one Egyptian – a daughter of the king, who married a native (someone from the region). The Egyptian stood in the tower and looked at the stream and the vegetation and it reminded her so much of the Nile, only without the crocodiles. So her thoughtful husband brought crocodiles from the Nile ;)for her

Taninim Stream Nature Reserve near Binyamina

Cleopatra is also in the story, one legend links the crocodiles to Cleopatra who sent her husband King Herod a pair of crocodiles, an act of piercing “Tell you crocodiles to have Nile style” or “Inshallah will be eaten by the crocodiles”, we will never know.

The Padilla of the Romans in the Design of Aqueducts

In the reserve you will find aqueducts whose function is to move water from a higher place to a lower place (gravity).

Only after building a few *hundred* meters did the builders of the aqueduct realize that they should have built the aqueduct higher and simply abandoned it as it is – happens to the best.

In the summer months there is a walking tour in the water flowing in the aqueducts – suitable for the whole family and a big pan for children.

I remember that a few years ago a crocodile escaped from a farm in the area of Nahal Taninim, in Beit Hananya near the reserve, maybe the crocodile knew and tried to return to the sources?

Animals in Taninim River

Maybe not crocodiles but plump catfish in the water, tilapia (muskets), crabs, water birds – pelicans, storks, turtles and more – plenty of nature will be found in the reserve.

**Note or fact very unrelated to the article, every chubby animal its level of cuteness increased more