Wadi Shees

Wadi Shees runs into the Hajar mountains near the Omani border and holds water for much of the year, which is why terraces of date palms, mangoes and citrus climb its floor on stone-walled ledges fed by falaj channels. A recreation park with a metal walkway built along the gorge wall opened in October 2020, taking visitors above the pools without walking in the streambed, and the older village of stone houses stands further up. Flash flooding after mountain rain is a real hazard.

The landscape

• The hanging walkway - a metal path built along the gorge wall above the pools.
• The terraces - stone-walled farm ledges of dates, mangoes and citrus.
• The falaj channels - the water system feeding the terraces from the wadi.
• The stone village - the older settlement of dry-stone houses up the valley.

When to go

November to March; the water is best after winter rain. Summer is dangerously hot in the gorge. Weekends are busy with day visitors from the coast.

What to expect

Flash floods happen with little warning after rain in the mountains and the wadi floor is not a safe place then. The farms and terraces are private property and worked. The road in is narrow with limited parking.

Nearby

Khorfakkan is north-east, and Masafi is west.

Key facts