Israel Railways to Nahariya, the last station on the coast line; the bus station is across the road. Nateev Express line 22 runs to the Achziv National Park stop about every half hour. Sleep in the Achziv National Park campsite (INPA, paid, book online, showers, no dogs) or for free in the eucalyptus grove behind the Yad LeYad memorial, 800 m north, with a tap at the memorial entrance; Betzet beach further north is the other free option. Buy four days of food in Nahariya: the only shops on the line are the fuel station at Elkosh bridge and the village of Hurfeish on day 2.

Feet in the sea at 06:00, then east on farm tracks to the Nahal Kziv reserve at Ein Hardalit (km 8, shaded pools, a tap at the car park). The stream runs all year but INPA says do not drink it: fill at the Yad LeYad tap and at Ein Hardalit. The path climbs to Montfort, the Crusader castle on its spur (km 12, steps and a short scramble, no sleeping in the reserve), drops back to the water and follows it past the Dlavim pool to Ein Tamir (km 16), a spring at the end of a cut tunnel you can wade with a headtorch. Then the one climb of the day: 300 m up past Ein Ziv to the village of Abirim. The night camp is at the village entrance, with a tap and a bin and nothing else. Thursday is a normal day: buses still run on road 89 below the village if something goes wrong; from Friday noon they stop for the holiday weekend. Behind schedule? Goren Park (KKL, free, tap, toilets) sits above Montfort at km 14, 300 m off the line.

Rolling Galilee hills, no reserve gates. Down to Elkosh bridge on road 89 (km 29, fuel station shop 200 m, the popular unofficial camp there has no water), then up the wadi past a string of small springs: Ein Retet, Ein Tabaat, Ein Zevul and Ein Hotam (km 33, clear and pooled). Hurfeish (km 34) lies 1.5 km north of the line if you need a shop or a cafe; it is a Druze village, open on Friday and on Rosh Hashana. Buses on road 89 stop around 14:00 today for Shabbat and the holiday: from Elkosh bridge onward there is no bus until Sunday night. The afternoon climbs steadily to the foot of Har Meron. Horbat Hammama is the best camp on the trail: tables under the trees, a tap, toilets, and fires allowed in the marked spots. It is also the coolest night, 15–18 °C at 886 m in the open. The Har Meron field school next door has a paid camp with a kitchen and showers if the forecast turns.

The short day, on purpose: the Nahal Amud reserve admits walkers from Pitul Meron only between 08:00 and 14:30, and closes its trails at 16:00, so the canyon waits for the morning. 300 m of climb from camp to the summit plateau of Har Meron (1,204 m, the highest point west of the Jordan; the peak loop is 15 minutes off the line, tap at the summit car park), then a long descent through Meron's oak forest past Ein Zeved and Ein Meron to Pitul Meron by road 866 (km 49, tables and a tap; Meron Center bus stop 500 m away). From there the trail enters the reserve and reaches the Nahal Amud night camp at the upper entrance in 2.6 km. Saturday is also the first day of Rosh Hashana: the reserve keeps its Saturday hours and the camp will be full, so book it as early as possible; it also sells the reserve ticket you need for day 4. Confirm the holiday gate hours on *3639 when you book. Option B: sleep free at Pitul Meron and enter the reserve at 08:00, which makes day 4 half an hour longer.

The technical day. The reserve opens at 08:00, so this is the one late start. From the camp past Ein Yakim into the upper canyon: six kilometres of ladders, iron pins and handholds beside running water, past the Sechvi pools, to the old flour mill below the Safed industrial zone (km 54, the last bail-out with a bus). Fill 4 L each at the camp tap: INPA forbids drinking from the stream and there is no tap until the lower Nahal Amud camp (km 61, fenced, tap). Then the middle and lower sections, rocky and exposed, bolted in places, drying out as you drop below sea level past the Amud pillar and the caves, to the fish-farm gate and the shore at Ginosar. INPA closes the full canyon on hot days, on rainy days and the day after rain: call *3639 the evening before. Sunday 13 September is the second day of Rosh Hashana: no bus 59 from the Ginosar stop on road 90 until the holiday ends about 19:15, and a thin evening service after it. Arrange a lift or a taxi from Tiberias to Ginosar, or swim at Hukok beach and take the late 59 to Tiberias, then Egged 430 to Haifa or 836 to Tel Aviv.