In November 2026, Helle and Peter did a 2-day hike on Jebel Shams in Oman, the loop from Ghul to Hayl Ash Shas. The hike includes the popular balcony walk. The terrain is mainly on boulder fields with light scrambling. The trail is marked with blazes, but there is no walked trail to follow. Most people hike out-and-back from the Sana Resort, and this ascend is easy to follow. The descend on the eastern side of the canyon is less used and more difficult to follow.
It is an incredibly beautiful hike with great locations to pitch a tent for the night.
The hike was part of our 1-week road trip in Oman. Read the full story here.
Day 1 – Hiking from Wadi Ghul to the canyon rim – 20 km and 1625 m ascend
We started the hike in Wadi Ghul, where we parked our rented car. At 8:15 we walked into the wadi. Wadi Ghul is at the bottom of the “Grand Canyon of Arabia” or Jebel Shams. The trail was clearly marked with red, yellow and white blazes, but there was no actual trail, just a scramble up the mountain with rocks and almost no vegetation. After 3 1/2 hours without meeting other creatures than tiny lizards, we reached the small village of Al Khitaym in 1750 mas. At this point we had ascended approximately 1000 meters.
The true highlight at Jebel Shams is to hike the “Balcony walk”, which is on a shelf in the canyon. It is 4,5 km one way hike that ends at two abandoned villages with terraced fields and a pool. We met lots of people on the balcony walk. Most people hike in the morning, so we were mostly passing people on their way out.
The scenery was absolutely astonishing. At places there were drops of 1000 meters to the canyon floor, and at other places we were walking beneath overhangs. The balcony walk has an elevation drop of 300 m, so it was a very easy hike in.
We reached the pool above the abandoned village around 2 pm and had it almost to ourselves. We had a very refreshing swim in the pool and a late lunch before hiking back out.
Back in Al Khitaym we bought 7,5 liters of water as this was our last possibility to buy water for the next days.
Sunset was approaching, so we quickly hiked out of the village to the top of the canyon in 2000 mas. Here we found a perfect camping spot at the edge of the canyon and watched the sun set, turning the canyon into reddish colors.
We had dinner in the dark and went to sleep early.
Day 2 – Canyon rim to Hayl Ash Shas village, 27 km/1400 m ascend/2000 m descend
The alarm went off at 06:00, as we had a long hiking day ahead. As the sun rose over the mountain at 06:30 we left camp and walked along the rim while the rising sun colored the canyon in bright red.
After 3 km on tarmac road we reached Sama Resort and the starting point for the Jebel Shams trail. Jebel Shams is the highest peak in Oman at 3008 mas, but it is a military base and closed for the public. The twin peak is 2997 mas and is where the trail ends.
The hike to the peak is 11,5 km and takes an estimated 6 hours. As it was now 07:30, we could expect to reach the top at 13:30, leaving us 4 hours in daylight for the 10 km of descend.
It was optimistic, and we hiked to the top almost with only short breaks to take in the view of the canyon below.
The terrain was technical with no actual trail, and we were constantly on the lookout for the next trail mark and at the same time watching our steps in the rocky terrain.
As we got up in the higher altitudes more vegetation appeared: small bushes and pine trees. The vegetation made it more difficult to find the trail markings and the pace slowed down.
After 6 hours we reached the summit and had spectacular 360 degrees views of the canyonlands below. We had a quick lunch of nuts, as we did not have time to boil water.
20 minutes later we started our descent. We had not been able to find the GPS file for this part of the hike and the path was not shown on either of our navigation apps, so we only had a printed map with the route.
The descend on the eastern side of the mountain is much less used as the trail we had ascended. The trail markings were very difficult to find due to the vegetation, but soon we were walking along the rim downwards and it became easier to follow the markings.
We were getting stressed as we were not able to make it down before sunset at 17:30. Due to the technical terrain we were only slightly faster downhill, and our legs were tired. There were no hikers or shepherds on the trail down.
We made it past the very steep section in daylight and crossed the first two wadis (dried out river bed carved into canyons).
The sun set and we still had a wadi to cross before reaching the village. At 17:45 it was completely dark and no longer possible to follow the trail markings. We changed to navigation by compass and turned on our headlamps. We could see the lights from the village in the distance.
We were lucky (or good navigators?) to hit the stairs going down and up the last wadi. It was very steep and deep, so there was no other way to reach the village. At 18:30 we walked into the village feeling very relieved that we made it. We were almost out of water, which had been the biggest concern. We could have camped in one of the wadis, but without water we would be dehydrated.
There was no taxis in the small village, so we continued to the only hotel nearby, to ask them to arrange a taxi. Again we were lucky, as three hotel workers just finished their workday and were driving down to Al Hamra, so we got a lift down with them. They told us that no taxis were driving on the mountain after sunset.
Ali offered to drive us all the way to our car for a small payment, but as we reached Al Hamra he told us that he could not take us further. We were dumped by the bus station.
No taxis drove by, so we tried to hitch. After 10 minutes a guy offered us a ride. Most Omanis speak fluent English, and our driver as well. He asked us a million questions on the 15 minute drive to Wadi Ghul, and was happy to help visitors. As the other Omanis we met, he was proud of his country. We were so grateful for the hospitality of Omanis. It was a good end to our 2-day hike on Jebel Shams in Oman.
At 20:00 we were finally at our car and had a 30 minute drive to our hotel in Bahla. After a quick shower we had dinner at the rooftop terrace with views towards the floodlit Bahla fort and the crowds of people. It was Omani day, and it seemed like every Omani was on the street to celebrate. A huge contrast to the tranquility of the mountains.