Mount Zaghouan Hike In Zaghouan, Tunisia: Hiker's Guide

One of the best adventures you can have in Tunisia is found on top of Zaghouan after completing the 10km hike to Djebel Zaghouan in central Tunisia. The 20km round-trip is sure to test your stamina although the views of the mountainous region are worth all of the effort. Rocky terrain clambering and some bouldering is the skill-level required to make it to the top although there are a number of great rock-climbing sites in the area as a separate activity.

Table of Contents

MOUNT ZAGHOUAN HIKE

HOW TO GET TO MOUNT ZAGHOUAN (DJEBEL ZAGHOUAN)

Before you can even start to think about tying up the laces on your hiking boots, you first need to make your way to Zaghouan. If you are in Tunis, you can take a taxi or a louage (shared car). I found the public transport a bit unreliable and often hard to figure out when and what will be coming. If you are a local, this may be easier to organize.

I was coming from the south and my louage dropped me at Enfidah, I then caught a local bus to Zaghouan and then finally a taxi to Dar Zaghouan, my hotel.

Once you are in Zaghouan, you will then need to head to the trailhead, which among many spots is generally known as the Water Temple. It really depends if you have a car or not but I have included my GPS map below and included the link for download here.

As you can see on the map below ‘Parc Temple Des Eaux’ is about where we started but the road does continue all the way to the ‘Temple’, which is a secondary, unofficial temple. You can drive here, park, and cut your hike in half but let’s just see it’s not the ‘real’ hike if you do that. The bottom line is you can start the journey from the ‘Parc Temple Des Eaux’ or the ‘Water Temple’.

HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR PERMIT AND GUIDE FOR MOUNT ZAGHOUAN

Djebel Zaghouan is actually in a National Park. There are quite a few rules that surround this region because, during the Arab Spring Uprising, the mountains were seen as a dangerous place for certain organization to hide and get up to no good. Now it is very safe but a lot of rules still apply. The two that will impact you the most is the need to obtain a permit for your hike.

To obtain your permit, you can do this by emailing the Zaghouan Mountain Association: [email protected] The permit doesn’t cost anything but it is required and although I find it unlikley you would be checked or find any trouble without it, it’s always good to follow the local rules.
The National Park closes at 4pm, which rules you out of being at the summit for sunset. It is very possible to get down after sunset safely so it would definitely be good to try and organize to stay later to witness the sunset at the top but if you can’t find a way around that rule, be aware that after 4 pm you are actually not allowed in the National Park. Again, I’m not sure how heavily that is enforced and what penalties are imposed.

To organize a guide for the trek, you can also email the Zaghouan Mountain Association and they will set you up with a guide. They provide this service for free at this point in time and are an incredible bunch of people who love the mountains and are truly proud to show you their local landscapes.

MOUNT ZAGHOUAN DRONE VIDEO

MY EXPERIENCE HIKING MOUNT ZAGHOUAN

It was a big journey to get to Zaghouan from the south with numerous taxi’s buses and an overpriced louage, but I think I knew the whole time we were heading somewhere worth the effort. The mountains are always worth the effort. I imagine if you are making the short 1-hour journey down from Tunis, your drive may be a little less eventful, which is a good thing!

I had been in touch with the ASEZ, which is essentially the Zaghouan Mountain/Climbing Association when translated. Basically, they are a group of legends who love the mountains and volunteer their time to show tourists like me the beauty of the mountains in Zaghouan. They organized my permit and three of the members of ASEZ came all the way from Tunis to guide us up Djebel Zaghouan, the mightiest peak in the region.

What are my favorite pieces of hiking gear?

There are four pieces of gear that I simply never forget when I go on a hike. These are four items that I using right now and this list gets updated every year! Here are my hiking essentials.

Arcteryx BETA AR Rain Jacket: This is my go-to rain jacket. It’s super light, folds down into a tiny ball, and protects brilliantly in a storm. This one never leaves my backpack.
Salomon X Ultra 3 Mid GTX Hiking Boots: For the best ankle support, waterproofing, and durable exterior I’m a fan of tough but light hiking boots like these Salomons for my adventures.
Black Diamond Head Torch: I can’t tell you how many times, I’ve arrived back from a hike unexpectedly late. I always keep this lightweight but strong headtorch in my bag for the unexpected.
Darn Tough Socks: These are the most comfortable hiking socks I’ve ever worn and last for years. They also have a lifetime warranty and you just send them in with a hole and they replace it no questions asked.

They briefed us that it would be about 10 hours in total and possibly 25-29km in length depending on the route we took. In the end, it was 6 hours and 20kms. Had we known it was not quite 10 hours, we might have tried to be at the summit for sunset and broke the rules a little bit but nevertheless, it was great during the day.

We set off at 830 am from Dar Zaghouan, our hotel, and made it to a parking lot near the ‘Parc Temple Des Eaux’. Like I mentioned in the directions above, you can really start wherever you please as you will see the road continues. However, it does dart off up the hill on a dirt trail before reaching the Temple at the midway point. The map above will show that clearly.

The trail begins on the road and cars were passing us. It’s always an interesting way to start a hike but we were happy to be out exploring Tunisia and turning the legs over. During this part of the trail, there was a lot of trash dumped on the side of the road, which was disappointing.

After a couple of kilometers on the road, we turned off to the left, through a gate that led us up into the wilderness. This is when the hike began and we would only see a small snippet of asphalt throughout the remainder of the journey.

The trail was a steady climb, averaging 100m of incline for the first four kilometers. It was a rocky trail with lots of switchbacks as we rounded our way up the side of the mountain, grabbing slight views every few hundred meters. On our ascent, fog filled the sky giving a sense of mystery as the hike slowly unfolded and we began to see more and more of the Zaghouan landscapes.

The halfway point of the trail is marked by a temple. While not belonging to a specific religion, families meet here on weekends for traditional ceremonies. We seemed to be walking straight through one although they didn’t mind too much. It is to be noted that you can get fresh clean water here that I drank. I didn’t take any photos here except one quick one as we were leaving as we were intruding a little bit but it is an interesting stop on the trek.

The trail now joins back to the road for a few hundred meters as the mountains begin to loom over you. We looked up at the peaks wondering which route, which peak and what the view would be like from the top. The sun was shining now and the fog was beginning to disperse.

We again departed from the road and this time headed up a serires of steep, narrow switchbacks on the rocky terrain. We could now look back down on the road we had just crossed and see all the way back to the temple we had passed at the midway point. Our guides and new local friends were busy picking the local fruits as their snacks along the way.

BEST INSURANCE FOR TRAVELERS

Philippines backpacking, backpacker philippines, backpacking philippines, travel backpack philippines, backpacking route philippines, philippines backpacking itinerary, philippines backpacking budget, backpack in philippines, backpack the philippines, backpacking in the philippines, philippines backpacking route, backpacking in philippines, backpacking philippines alone, backpacking philippines itinerary, backpacking philippines blog, backpacking around the philippines, philippines backpacking guide, backpacking bohol philippines, backpacking trip philippines, backpacking philippines cost, backpacking in the philippines cost, cheap travel destinations philippines, cheap travel in philippines, cheap travel to philippines, cheap travel destinations in the philippines

Don’t wait for an accident to happen… get insured! My travel insurance is HeyMondo which offers low-cost travel & medical insurance. That’s me on the left with three teeth knocked out after a motorbike crash in Bali!

You can click to read my Full Review of the Best Travel Insurance.

I’ve made several successful claims with HeyMondo and find their customer service very quick and helpful. Click the button below to get a 5% DISCOUNT

Get a Free Quote

From years before, many small ruins remain in these hills. Homes to miners from ther egion, all that is left today is a few walls amidst the rubble, but it just make you stop and think about life in the mountains. Still a number of shepherds could be heard throughout the trail herding their goats but it seemed all life had moved further down into the valley rather than in the hills.

The trail now winds you up through the trees and over a dry river to the second checkpoint of the hike. The first viewpoint of the day gives a wide-open view over Zaghouan and beyond. We began looking at the other peaks and ridges planning our next Tunisia hiking adventures.

Most people will be feeling quite good at this point. There ha been 700m of incline ticked off but it has been quite gradual throughout the journey. The climb now becomes quite steep and you really do head straight up the summit, bouldering your way to the top with whatever path you choose. There is no set path for this section of the hike although you can make some good guesses as to where others have chosen to ascend the final peak.

Throughout this climb, you will likely be breathing quite heavy as there are no plateaus, just straight up. However, there are a few reasons to stop and catch your breath. One is to turn around and take in the view that will only get better and better as you climb higher. The second reason is to explore some of the caves you will pass on the way. Hideouts for many over the years, the details of which we may never know.

Once you get close to the summit you can either veer to the right and miss the first ‘false summit’ or you can scale up it , down and then up the actual summit. Both have great views and it doesn’t take much extra time to summit both. I headed to the actual summit and took some photos of the others over on the first summit.

We then all headed over to the actual summit where we hung out for over an hour eating lunch, flying the drone, enjoying the sun and of course, taking in the 360-degree views of the Zaghouan region. It took us about four hours to reach the top at a pretty leisurely pace. It could be done in under three hours quite easily by someone a bit more focused on their pace rather than taking photos, chatting and exploring but that will be up to you.

After our hang out at the top, we began the hike back down, which would eventually take us about 2.5 hours rounding out the total time of our hike to just over 6 hours. The conditions on the way down were perfectly clear and later that night the sunset was incredible, which left me wondering what if we were at the summit but you can’t always make the logistics work.

ZAGHOUAN ADVENTURE BAG

This is an adventure bag. It is full of trash. Every time I go on an adventure I collect one adventure bag full of trash. It’s my small way of saying thanks to mother nature for allowing me to enjoy her beautiful creations. If we have time to go on an adventure we have time to collect an adventure bag on the way back out of the trail once we have enjoyed the waterfall, the hike or the beach. Adventure hard!

Tag your @adventurebagcrew on Instagram and mention @adventurebagcrew in your Instagram stories to be featured and inspire your friends, family, and followers to join the movement!

WHERE TO STAY NEAR MOUNT ZAGHOUAN

When you start to look at staying in Zaghouan for some adventures or hiking, you will find that there aren’t hundreds of options to book online. A local guide recommended for me to stay at Dar Zaghouan, which costs $100 USD per night for two people including breakfast and dinner.

Dar Zaghouan wasn’t cheap but the meals were quite good and it was always a three-course serving and unlimited food and coffee at breakfast. If you are looking for a comfortable base during your time in Zaghouan, I’d suggest Dar Zaghouan as you have all your meals taken care of and there aren’t too many options for restaurants in Zaghouan.

I’d suggest booking in advance especially on weekends as a lot of local tourists from Tunis make the 1-hour journey down for a countryside escape from the busy Tunis. Dar Zaghouan fills up on the weekend but also has some great live entertainment in the form of traditional music and performances during dinner.

To book a room or to check the availability you can click here: Dar Zaghouan Hotel