Be'erot Campground is a central touristic spot, offering full facilities for independent campers, an information center and a small shop. It is very different from most campgrounds, which usually offer nothing but a piece of bare land to put your tent on.
This campground is located in the eastern part of Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater), about 20 minutes drive away from Mitzpe Ramon city, and it is not accessible by public transport.
It is located not far from some of the most beautiful hiking trails in Israel, such as Mount Ardon, Mount Saharonim and Parsat Nekarot ("Nekarot horseshoe").
In Be'erot Campground you can find an information center, with representatives giving away hiking maps and free information about different hiking options in the area.
The small shop offers vary basic gear and products for travelers (canned food, gas cans, firewood, bottled water Ect.), and also souvenirs and icecream for kids.
The colorful road to Be'erot
The convenient asphalt road leading from the main road (40) to Be'erot Campground, takes you through old mining areas - Old Quarries that provided many raw materials for the building industry, in the first years of the state of israel; Iron, Aluminium, Copper, gypsum and black clay, are just few of the materials excavated in an industrial scale - approximately 200 Million tons (!) of material during 3 decades - Eating away the rock sediments and exposing ancient rock formations. The exposure to oxygen affected these mineral-rich rock formations and created very vibrant and colorful landscapes, which are not visible or touchable, almost nowhere else on earth.
Different prospection tests also exposed small amounts of rare elements such as Silver, Arsan and Uranium, but these were not found in large industrial quantities.
A complete stop to all mining operations took place about 20 years ago, when the area was officially declared as a Nature Reserve. A special fund was established, based on yearly payments from the original mining companies, in order to sponsor rehabilitation efforts, to re-establish the local ecosystem - As it was badly disturbed during decades of profitable mining operations.
This road was named "Colors of Makhtesh Ramon National Park" and it was declared a National Park at the year 2020.
Be’erot Camping Ground is a “must see” location, and a geographic center for many types of hiking and 4x4 trails in the area.
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