King's Highway

For the King's Roads, see King's Road (Finland) and King's Road (disambiguation).

King's Highway is a region in Jordan. The name comes from the ancient trade route that ran right through it.

Cities

• 1 Kerak. site of a once-mighty Crusader castle  
• 2 Madaba. known for its mosaic map of Jerusalem  

Other destinations

• 1 Dana Nature Reserve. Stay in a village little changed since the 15th century, enjoy unforgettable hiking in an offshoot of the Great Rift.  
• 2 Mujib Nature Reserve (وادي الموجب). (updated Aug 2023)
• 3 Dead Sea. The lowest point on earth and the most saline lake (updated May 2021)
• 4 Um er-Rasas. A largely unexcavated archeological site with Roman, Byzantine, & early Muslim ruins  

Crusader castles

• 5 Montreal - built in 1115 AD, also known as Al-Shobak or Shawbak. Hard to get to without a car or driver, but it is on a hill with spectacular views. Most of the castle is a pile of rubble but there are underground rooms to explore, including the staircase (through a metal door that should be open) that goes down 375 steps to the old wells. Take a torch, and note that at the bottom, you can climb up metal rungs to a hatch next to the road below the castle, then walk back up the road. 1 JD or included in the Jordan Pass.
• 6 Vaux Moise - small crusader castle close to the town of Wadi Musa

Understand

The King's Highway trip to Petra starts from Madaba. It gives visitors a good opportunity to see people in the villages during their daily life, and the landscape is very nice: If you come in April you can see black irises on the way. It's a very nice stop to see the canyon of Wadi Mujeb with a 950-meter depth. Crossing this canyon you get to Karak and do a visit to the castle. After Karak toward Tafila you can do a stop to see the mountains of Dana and then after Tafila another castle named Shaoubak. Then you get to Petra. This is a nice trip and more worthwhile to do than the desert highway.

Eat

On the King's Highway there are few places to eat. The stop at Karak to visit the castle will give you time to have lunch within some restaurants near the site.

Sleep

You can stay overnight in Karak or at Dana Reserve.