Founded in the 1950s as a military outpost and then as a waypoint station for local miners and road workers, Mitzpe evolved into a small town when newly arrived Moroccan immigrants were unceremoniously placed there and told that they would "be living an hour and half from Tel Aviv." Over time, various other groups like part of the "Black Hebrew" community and various strains of the most recent Russian immigration from the early 1990s, have also been placed in Mitzpe Ramon.

Mitzpe Ramon remains small and somewhat struggling, although recently a variety of new age hippies and eco entrepreneurs have succeeded in turning the ailing town into something of a hip eco leave-the-city-behind destination. At the same time, there continues to be dissonance between some of the town's original residents and the more recent arrivees.

Today, Mitzpe acts as a stopping point for travelers going from the North of Israel to Eilat as well as catering to soldiers stationed at the nearby military bases. The town has also developed into a unique eco-tourist destination as it boasts the highest air quality in Israel and a series of breathtaking landscapes. Mitzpe also provides a haven for various kinds of performance artists, new-age healers and desert enthusiasts.

 

The town is best covered on foot or by car. Within the crater, your choices are slowly and painstakingly on foot, bonejarringly by 4x4, or, oddly enough, by llama hired out from the Alpaca Farm.

 

Mitzpe Ramon's biggest sight is the Ramon Crater (Machtesh Ramon), 500 meters deep, 40 kilometers long, 10 kilometers at its widest, and claimed to be the largest in the world. This is not, however, an asteroid impact site: just a particularly large asymmetrical hole dug out of the ground by natural processes of erosion. The Ramon Crater is the largest of three Negev craters, containing geological formations unlike those you would see anywhere else in the world. Together with a magnificent panorama, it presents a fascinating story of geomorphologic evolution. The Ramon Nature Reserve which encompasses the crater and the Negev mountains surrounding is the largest nature reserve in Israel.

 

The Ramon Crater is an amazing place to go hiking, there are many one-day hikes and some multiple-day hikes.

Before starting a hike please go to the visitor center in Mitzpe Ramon and inform a ranger about your hike and route. Official hiking trails are well marked. Each hiking trail has its own color. The markings are as fallowed: a white stripe then a stripe in the color of the trail and then a white stripe again, for example, white, blue, white. It forbidden to hike off the trails and to hike after sun down. These hiking rules apply for the rest of Israel.

A nice short hike starts at the Minsara and is marked in green. The Minsara is interesting for geologists. Their are two options for this hike, option one is a hike that goes up the Minsara hill and comes back down it is approximately 1km and is an easy hike. Option two is a hike that goes up to Mitzpe Ramon. It is approximately 6km long and is moderate to hard.

The Har Ardon trail is very beautiful, it is moderate to hard. One can start form the Be'erot camping site or on the black trail this will connect to the blue trail that will finish at the Givat Charut parking, from there follow the black trail back to the Be'erot camping site. This trail is approximately 11km long. One can also start directly from the Givat Charut parking and finishes at the parking on bottom of Har Ardon this trail is approximately 5km long.

For any multi day hikes please consult a ranger in the Mitzpe Ramon visitor center.

 

In Israel one is only allowed to camp in designated camping areas, all of the camping sites in Israel are on a first come first serve bases. Most of the designated camping sites in nature reserves in Israel have no facilities such as running water, toilets, etc. In most cases camp fires are allowed, use only wood from outside the nature reserve as burning trees or plants that grow in the reserve is prohibited even if they are dead.

The Be'erot camping site has most of the facilities that one would need, it has an open Bedouin tent where one can order food or drink a cup of Bedouin tea or coffee for a fee. It also has running water, and reasonable toilets. If you are planing on camping in Be'erot take in to consideration that you will have to pay a fee, for more information about this fee ask at the Mitzpe Ramon visitor center. This site is open for cars.

The camping site in Bikat Machmal is comfortable but has no facilities, fee in not required for this camp site. This site is also open for cars but please respect the environment and the wildlife keep the camp site clean and quiet.