En Gedi - Nature Park 
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The great attraction of En Gedi, is the Nature Park, with a flora which includes both water plants and desert plants; it is the home of ibexes, hyenas, leopards and many species of birds. The entrance to the park is on a road which branches off the lakeside road to the north of the palm plantation (parking lot; plans of park on sale). From here a waymarked path runs up the Nahal David valley into an area of increasingly luxuriant vegetation, in striking contrast to the surrounding desert country, and comes to a pool into which the stream falls over a cliff. From the waterfall a track (difficult at some points) climbs southward to the En Gedi Spring, near which the remains of an old watermill were found. Northwest of this are the remains of the Chalcolithic temple (fourth millennium B.C.), dedicated to the cult of the moon and of the spring. In the center of the building is the circular "Moon Stone". The two gates of the sacred precinct face towards the En Gedi Spring on one side and the Shulamite Spring on the other. From the Shulamite Spring a track continues north to the Dodim Cave, above the waterfall. From the Chalcolithic temple tracks run northwest to the Dry Canyon and west to a square Roman fort and a circular Israelite stronghold.
Address:
Nature Reserve Authority, 78 Yirmiyahu Street, Jerusalem , Israel
Tips: Time required for walks: from the entrance to the waterfall and back, 1.25 hours; to the En Gedi Spring, the Chalcolithic temple and the Dodim Cave, 4 hours; to the temple and the Dry Canyon, 5 hours. Full information can be obtained from the park wardens and the field school (concerned with the study of the flora and fauna of the Judaean desert and the Dead Sea region), to the north of the entrance. For a trip of any length it is advisable to have a local guide, for the neighboring desert is hot and dry and holds dangers for the inexperienced.
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En Gedi spring and waterfall.
Waterfalls at En Gedi Nature Park.
