{"id":24646,"date":"2024-10-18T20:00:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T18:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onwheels.travel\/?p=24646"},"modified":"2025-09-10T16:11:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T14:11:02","slug":"nefud-desert-and-palmental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onwheels.travel\/en\/nefud-desert-and-palmental\/","title":{"rendered":"Nefud Desert and Palmental"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nefud Desert<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

The Nefud Desert is over 100,000 km2 in size. We only travel through a small part of the southwest of this huge desert. However, our start begins with a break, as storm clouds are gathering. And after all, it is a gift to be able to experience rain in a desert.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The next morning we set off around small ponds. <\/strong>Rock slabs alternate with gravel plains and sandy areas. This part of the desert is relatively flat, but not so flat that you could drive through it everywhere. That’s why we curve around small rocky outcrops and other obstacles – all day long. But the drive is not exhausting, because we enjoy the desert to the full.
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The desert surprises us again, because grass is already starting to sprout in this corner. This shows how fertile the desert would be with enough rain. Wonderful.
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This is followed by a section with some small rocky elevations and weathered rock structures.
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Mahajah Mountain<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Finally, we reach our destination for the day, the bizarre rock formation of Jabal Mahajah<\/strong>. We stand next to our vehicle in amazement and can hardly believe the sight<\/strong>. But it is true and fascinating at the same time.
\nThe pictures speak for themselves. We are grateful to be alone here again. That means more enjoyment for us.
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Lonely palm valley<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

We ride over sand, gravel and coarse rocks into a small mountain range close to Ha’il. Naturally, we let the air out of the tires. This makes the ride on gravel a little softer and we are also prepared for sandy passages.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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After this amazing rock formation, we turn into a “green” valley. It must have rained a lot here. Nice, the green is simply good for the eyes and the heart.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Suddenly the palm groves are in front of us and the road turns into a gravelly stream bed. Some of the palm groves are well-kept, others are badly neglected. Perhaps there is too much competition from the large palm plantations here, so that cultivation is only worthwhile to a limited extent – or perhaps the palms have suffered from drought?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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We stay for two days. Towards the evening we are visited by two brothers. They are very friendly and pleasant. We enjoy chatting with them and hope to see them again, as at least one of them works in Riyadh.
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Drone video
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You can get a better insight into this stage of the journey in our short drone video. Full screen and sound on. Have fun.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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