Al Ghayl is where desert meets mountains with striking scenery, and is one for the off-road lovers. If you enter from the Manama-RAK rd (E18), you can go off road a few kilometres before the Al Ghayl turn off or stay on the road to the Al Ghayl exit.
Al Ghayl
Both ways will take you to desert area which is more to the left whilst plains and rocky areas are more to the right. If you continue down that way, you can go off road and drive on a road which separates desert from low mountains.
Be careful in the area close to the town of Manama, especially if you are filming, as it is a military area.
Continue further and you can go through Wadi Sidr (Fujairah) (map) or Wadi Asima (RAK) (map). During the winter months, you can visit the Flower Farm at Asima. (map)
You can also continue on to Tayyibah for the heritage museum which makes for an interesting visit or to go hiking.
Another route to take is to/from Ghub-Gragrah/Shuhada road (E87) via Kub (Fujairah). This road also goes through Adhen (RAK).
From both Al Ghayl and Kub, you can drive right through to the Dibba-Masafi road (E89). You can turn off the Adhen – Kub road to Wadi Al Aim. Take me to the map
Kub Dam (no. 2) after rain Take me to the map
Away from the towns, you will lose signal and in some areas where you’ll see no one, not even a farmer, so be prepared if you want to take those routes. There are also lots of different tracks so download a map and don’t go too late in the day.
Please note none of these points on the map are exact locations except the dam. They guide you to the rough area where you can explore for yourself.
You can also use google maps and google earth to zoom in and out. Parts of the road may be in the Explorer off-road book.
Look out for birds of prey hovering around. You’ll see lots of goats, a few donkeys and sometimes camels.
Another route to take is to Wadi Sena, go up the mountain and come out the other side on the Dibba-Masafi Road. There’s a nice viewpoint on the mountain and you can camp there. There’s a new hiking trail not far too. I’ll add these soon but you can find my offroad trails and Wadi Sal hiking trails on my Wikiloc account.
As a point of interest, you’ll find yourself going between emirates without even realising here. Most of the area on the Manama side belongs to Ras al Khaimah, whereas to the left, it is mostly Fujairah. Manama and the surrounding area belongs to Ajman.
There is a also a small area of Fujairah squashed between two parts of Ras al Khaimah. Confused? Don’t worry, it won’t affect your trip!
Although the weather is hotter in the summer, it is dry, so more pleasant (in my opinion) than the humidity near the coast. Here are some other places to visit inland when you want to escape the humidity.
- Mleha
- Buhais Geology Park
- Governor’s Palace, Masafi
- Manama forts and Museum Park
- Desert Park
- Khatt
- Tawyeen
- Al Dhaid Wildlife Centre
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