Jebel Hafeet, Al Ain: The Mountain Road, Ancient Tombs and Sunset

Jebel Hafeet is a mountain you can drive up. A road almost 12 km long lifts you more than a kilometre above Al Ain, and you see the oases, the city and the desert all the way to Oman. Locals come for the sunset, cyclists come to train, and historians come for tombs that are 5,000 years old.

In my Al Ain day trip guide the mountain is one of the stops of the day. Here I go into more detail: the road, the viewpoints, the tombs at the foot, the hot springs and how to pick your timing.

At a glance

Question	Answer
Where	The southern edge of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi emirate, on the border with Oman
Height	1,249 m
The road up	11.7 km, 60 bends, paved
How long	1–1.5 hours for the drive up and the viewpoints; half a day with the tombs and springs
Best time	An hour before sunset; October to April
Entry	The mountain and Green Mubazzarah are free

The road to the summit

The Jebel Hafeet road was built in 1980. It’s 11.7 km long and climbs about 1,200 metres. It has 60 bends and three lanes: two going up and one coming down. The American car site Edmunds once called it the greatest driving road in the world.

Cyclists love the mountain too. Since 2019 the climb up Jebel Hafeet has been a regular stage of the UAE Tour cycling race, and an amateur hill-climb race is held here in January.

What matters behind the wheel:

• stay in your lane and don’t stop on the bends; there are parking areas with viewpoints on the way for photos;
• use engine braking on the way down, not just the pedal;
• after sunset, everyone who watched it heads down at the same time, so take the descent slowly.

At the top there’s a large car park with a viewpoint, the Mercure hotel and a military communications post. The mountain’s name translates as “empty mountain”.

Viewpoints and sunset

The view is the main reason to go up. From the summit you see green Al Ain with its oases, the desert and the mountains on the Omani side. The most popular moment is sunset: the sun drops behind the desert, and below, the city lights come on one by one.

My timing tip: start the drive up about an hour before sunset. Stop at one or two of the lower viewpoints while it’s still light, then go up to the top platform for the sunset itself. It can be windy at the top, so bring a sweater in winter.

The Hafit tombs: 5,000 years of history

At the foot and on the slopes of the mountain are more than 500 stone tombs shaped like beehives. They’re about 5,000 years old, from the start of the Bronze Age, around 3000 BC. A whole era in the archaeology of Arabia is named after the mountain: the Hafit period. Excavations began here in 1959 at Sheikh Zayed’s request. In the Iron Age, two thousand years later, people reused these tombs for burials.

The tombs are part of the UNESCO site Cultural Sites of Al Ain. The easiest place to see them is Jebel Hafit Desert Park, a 9 km park along the foot of the mountain. It has hiking and cycling trails, horse and camel rides, and camping from simple pitches to air-conditioned “bubbles”. At the southern end of the park stands Mezyad Fort, built in the 1890s and later used as a border post.

A restored Hafit-period tomb: stone, a round shape, a low entrance. Photo: Alexandermcnabb, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The tombs are in open ground with no shade. Come in the morning, in closed shoes, with water and a hat.

Green Mubazzarah: hot springs at the foot

Green Mubazzarah is a green park at the foot of Jebel Hafeet, on Al Zahker Road. It has lawns on the hills, streams, hot springs, small waterfalls and a man-made lake. There are thermal baths, a mini train, cafes and chalets. Parking is free.

The springs are warm, around 40 °C. Warming your feet in them after a walk costs nothing. The park is popular for picnics and family walks, and the mountain above it makes a ready-made backdrop for photos.

Green Mubazzarah: green slopes, chalets and the rocks of Jebel Hafeet right above the park. Photo: Nepenthes, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Plan: Al Ain with sunset on Jebel Hafeet

A realistic day from Dubai, October to April.

In spring 2026 my own Al Ain route went like this: the museum and the oasis, a toboggan ride, the hot springs at the foot of the mountain and the drive up Jebel Hafeet for sunset. Below is the same day with times, so you can repeat it yourself.

1. 8:00: leave Dubai. Al Ain is about 120 km away.
2. 10:00–11:30: the Hafit tombs in Jebel Hafit Desert Park, before it gets hot.
3. 12:00–13:30: lunch in Al Ain.
4. 14:00–16:00: Al Ain Oasis or Al Jahili Fort. More on both in Al Ain oasis, forts and camel market.
5. 16:15–17:00: Green Mubazzarah. A walk and the warm springs.
6. An hour before sunset: drive up Jebel Hafeet and watch the sunset from the summit.
7. After sunset: drive down and head back to Dubai, home around 21:00.

With children, you can swap the tombs for Al Ain Zoo: I cover it on my safaris and zoos page.

Common mistakes

• Going up at noon. The view is hazy, the viewpoints are hot and the photos look flat.
• Making Jebel Hafeet the last stop after Abu Dhabi. They’re two separate days: Al Ain and the capital are far apart.
• Visiting the tombs in the middle of a summer day. There’s no shade.
• Rushing the descent. In the evening, everyone who watched the sunset drives down at the same time.

How I can help

I run private trips with transfers from your hotel in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. I’ll shape the Al Ain day around your pace: the tombs, the oasis, the springs and sunset on Jebel Hafeet, and have you back at your hotel in the evening. If you’d like to see the capital too, look at my day in Abu Dhabi tour or all my Abu Dhabi tours.

Checked on 11 October 2026. Sources: Experience Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Culture, Visit Al Ain, Wikipedia. Opening hours and rules change, so check before you go.