Water & beaches

Ein Mabua (Ein Fawwar)

עין מבוע (עין פוואר)

Judean Desert

The middle spring of Nahal Prat, reopened to the public on 1 July 2026 after upgrading works. Ein Mabua is a rare karstic pulsing spring: water surges out of an underground cavity in bursts and the square bathing pool empties between beats. There is also a Byzantine church mosaic, ancient aqueducts and the remains of a 1931 British pumping station.

English likely

Call Directions Website

Address: Wadi Prat Nature Reserve – Ein Mabua, Route 1 / Mishor Adumim area שמורת טבע נחל פרת – עין מבוע, אזור מישור אדומים
Phone: 02-5715859
Hours: 08:00–17:00 in summer; entry up to an hour before closing. Summer Sun–Thu and Sat 08:00–17:00, Fri and holiday eves 08:00–16:00.
Website: www.parks.org.il
Price: ₪
Last checked: 2026-09

Call ahead to confirm hours.

Plan your visit

Tickets

Adult Free Child Free

Entry is free but by advance registration only through the Nature and Parks Authority booking system — you cannot simply turn up. No changing rooms or lockers.

Parking

Car park at the site, free. Places are limited by the booking system rather than by queueing.

Getting there

Roughly half an hour east of Jerusalem through Mishor Adumim; signposted from the Nahal Prat reserve roads. A car is the only realistic way.

How long to allowHalf a day AgesAll ages at the spring pool, which is about four metres deep in places — watch children closely. The connecting trails along the wadi are rocky desert walking, not buggy ground. Indoor or outdoorOutdoor On Shabbat and chagimOpen Best time to goSummer, oddly: the pulsing only happens once the winter recharge has drained, so the surge-and-empty effect is at its best from early summer onwards. Go at opening to beat the heat.

Insider tips

Booking is compulsory and free — register before you drive out or you will be turned away.
The spring pulses mainly in summer; in winter it simply flows continuously and the effect is lost.
Pollution in Nahal Prat has closed the blue trail from Ein Mabua to Ein Qelt and the green trail above it — check before planning a walk.
On days of heat load or flood risk the reserve's trails are shut.

On the map

Approximate location (street)

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