Bikepacking Oman: Exploring the Al Hajar Mountains
- Lauren O'Bryan
- Mar 15
- 9 min read
Updated: Mar 18
Oman had captured my attention a few years back. It seemed a dream destination for a short, but scenic bikepacking trip filled with culture. I finally got the opportunity to nip across from Georgia in early 2025, and this is my trip report.
Why Oman?
Unlike its’ glitzy neighbours, Oman has opted away from skyscrapers and excessive construction projects. Instead, Oman has retained a lot of cultural heritage. I love exploring nature on my bike, but adding cultural sights into the trip makes it a top destination for me.
Trip Highlights:
Snake Canyon: An absolutely mindblowing dirt road to cycle/push. The dust is so fine it’ll get EVERYWHERE but the views make up for it.
Jebel Shams Canyon Lookout: A super tough, but rewarding climb. Just be aware that the wind can pick up suddenly overnight.
Al Ayn: Make the detour off the highway through this village, it’s only add 10 mins but it’s worth it.
Nakhla: The fort and hot springs here are totally underrated and it’s a beautiful town.
Wadi camping: They’re all fantastic, Wadi Ghul was my favourite though. Temperatures are mild enough to sleep under the stars without a rainfly, and you might just have some curious goats visit in the morning.
The Route
I don’t like to overplan my bikepacking routes, but I also want to make sure I get the best out of a region. So, this requires a little forward thinking. I did some research into ‘must see’ places and interesting roads to ride and went from there.
You can see the full route I completed here:
Day 1: Leaving Muscat
I enjoy back roads far more than major highways but it’s almost impossible to cycle Oman and avoid the massive freeways that crisscross the country. Day one was all about getting as far out of the capital as possible and closer to the good stuff – the Al Hajar mountains. This night I made camp in a non-descript valley quite close to the village of Al Ayn.
Al Ayn was a pleasant surprise with traditional mud walled buildings and a cool date palm plantations along the river. I didn’t plan to camp in this area, I had just decided that was enough for the day and started looking for a discreet site to camp. However, along the Muscat-Nizwa highway, villages are frequent and it’s difficult to find discreet camp sites. This is how I ended up miles up a side valley.
Day 2: Nizwa
A much shorter day, focused on culture rather than cycling. I made my way to Nizwa via a B road, expecting it to be more interesting than the highway. I didn’t enjoy it. The traffic is still heavy and there’s virtually no shoulder. Drivers in Oman are better than some places, but I still had some close passes.
In Nizwa, I camped at the Nizwa Bikers Campground. Free camping is very easy in Oman, but as I wanted to spend some time exploring the Nizwa old town in comfort, I needed a shower. Paid campsites are rare in the Middle East, but this one is a veritable oasis. It’s also the cheapest accommodation option in town (Oman is expensive).
Nizwa is spectacular, but a little too touristy for my liking, so I decided not to pay to enter the fort. Instead I explored the labyrinth of mud walled streets.
Day 3: Wadi Ghul
Cycling Nizwa to Jebel Shams seemed too much for one day, so I split this up by camping at Wadi Ghul. It was my first proper Wadi camping experience and an absolutely stunning canyon. The gravel is surprisingly soft so I found myself pushing the bike a lot, and it can take awhile to find a nice flat spot due to the canyon being quite narrow in places. Pay particular attention to the rainfall forecast before camping in any Wadi’s, especially this one.
Day 4: Jebel Shams Canyon Lookout
Over only 37 kilometres, I gained 1,624 metres in elevation – this is one brutal climb. As I wasn’t in prime fitness (I cycle less in Tbilisi in the winter) I completely admit that I pushed a lot of this. But, I still made it – so you, do, you. I also arrived at the top to plenty of claps from the divers who had passed me on the way up.
There’s a little shop in the village Al Hayl near the finish point if you need to buy extra food or water. I didn’t go in so I can’t confirm how well stocked it is. I did however, ask for some water from a cafe and they were happy to fill up a bottle for me.
A word of warning, this location gets quite windy and the wind can pick up randomly. There wasn’t strong wind when I set up camp, and I found a spot that was sheltered by a big rock. However, the wind picked up and changed direction through the night which led to a very sleepless night.
Day 5: Temporarily Lost It
The rough route plan I had set out for myself involved descending from Jebel Shams and starting the climb towards Snake Canyon. But, I was struggling. This meant another killer climb in the heat of the day on a shadeless mountainside. I really didn’t want to do it. I looked at my plan B though and decided that it wouldn’t suffice, so I convinced myself just to make a start on the climb.
I begrudgingly resupplied on food and water at the bottom of the climb, had a minor breakdown because the shop didn’t have flatbread, and made a start. As it turns out, the solution to my poor frame of mind – was sleep.
Day 6: Into the Heart of Snake Canyon
The climb to Jebel Hatt was not nearly as tough as the day before. I tried to resupply with water at the mosque in a village just before the switchbacks start, but the tank was empty. A local family was kind enough to fill up my bottles.
You’ll find a coffee shop at the top which is a great little pit stop before you start the crippling descent into Snake Canyon. I was forewarned that Snake Canyon was incredibly steep and hard going. It’s no joke. Motorists are advised to use low gear, and I sadly had to push – downhill. The descent was simply too much for a heavy bike and the dust killed my disk brakes.
Nevertheless, the views made up for the difficulty and I found another great wadi campsite in Bima. An added bonus is there is a guesthouse in Bima if you would prefer a night indoors. I was more than happy to sleep under the stars in my tent, but did ask the guesthouse owner if I can pay to use their shower facilities. He only asked for 1 rial and I was able to rinse the dust out of my clothes and have a shower.
Day 7: Out of Snake Canyon
After Bima, there’s only a small bit of elevation gain remaining and then it’s all downhill to the main road and asphalt. Definitely, don’t miss the canyon viewpoint on the way out. The gravel changes back to asphalt at Tikhah and there’s fantastic scenery all along the valley.
My end point for day 7 was simply as far as I could get, as I needed to make it back to Muscat the following day. It’s not an easy area to find camping as the landscape flattens out and is quite dry and barren. I surprised myself and found a brilliant spot that was within earshot of the highway, yet hidden and peaceful.
Day 8: Nakhla and Back to Muscat
To finish the trip on a pleasant note, I woke up and cycled the short distance to Nakhla where I had spotted hot springs on the map. I arrived just before 9 am, had a coffee and some food at a nearby cafe and soaked my feet in the water. The hot springs are popular for both the warm thermal water and the tiny fish that nibble at the dead skin on your feet.
It’s possible to swim, but I noticed that very few women go in the water and when they do, it’s fully clothed. Even the men enter the water fully clothed. So, even though I really wanted to go in, I decided just to let the fish do their thing.
Before leaving the town, I visited Nakhla fort. Unlike Nizwa fort, this one is less busy, much smaller, but no less beautiful. I did also get there just after 9 am, which was a key factor in the crowd free atmosphere.
From this point it was straight down the highway back to Muscat to start cleaning my bike and gear so that I could fly the following day.
Practicalities
There are a few important things I made note of during my trip that would come in handy to other bikepackers, both male and female.
How to Dress
Oman is very open to tourism and people are understanding, but remember that it’s a deeply conservative country. I'm no stranger to cycling solo as a woman and I've experienced my fair share of harassment before.
To be respectful, I carried a sarong to wrap around my waist for when I wanted to explore off the bike for a longer period. But, cycled in tight fitting bib shorts, because long pants annoy me too much. I did enter grocery stores in my cycling shorts, and noticed that this appeared to make people feel uncomfortable.
However, all my 'off-the-bike' clothes (of which I had 1 set) were long and loose fitting. I definitely wouldn’t advise swimming in a bikini if there are other people around.
Food and Water Resupply
Water is surprisingly easy to come by, in fact, I only had one occasion that I had to ask people if I could fill my water bottles. There are water tanks located all over the place with free filtered water. You just have to keep your eye out for them. There is a chance the tank is empty though.
Little grocery stores are also pretty frequent. I only carried a maximum of 2 days worth of food at any time. My diet was pretty average, but tinned tuna and instant noodles are easy to find in almost every shop. My personal favourite is tinned hummus or moutarbel (like baba ghanoush) with flatbread.
Wild Camping
In comparison to my experience wild camping in other places, I found Oman incredibly safe. As a woman, I am very particular about where I wild camp solo. By the end of my trip I had no qualms with setting up camp even after I had been spotted by locals. People will simply wave and carry on. I never had issues with people returning after dark or giving me any trouble.
If you can find a bit of running water to camp near, that’s ideal, but not always possible. Oman receives the majority of its rainfall in winter. Because my trip was at the end of winter, many of the wadis are starting to dry out.
Wild Animals and Mosquitoes
Literally, mosquitoes were the only issues I experienced. I read online that mosquitoes are only a problem in the wetter regions like Salalah, but I found them all over. This shouldn’t be surprising, where you find water, there are often mosquitoes. Take mosquito repellent or wear clothing that cover your legs and arms on dusk.
As for wildlife, the only wild animals I encountered were some stray cats. Wildlife unfortunately appears to be incredibly shy of humans and mostly restricted to a few remote reserves.
Getting There and Away:
I flew with AirArabia from Tbilisi via Abu Dhabi to Muscat. I’ve packed a bike before with AirArabia and they were pretty good. I had a checked luggage limit of 20kg and carry on capacity of 10kg. Usually I will pack a lot of luggage within the bike box, but with a 20kg limit this was almost impossible for me.
Inside my bike box I packed my tent and items that couldn’t go in carry on. Then I collated my bikepacking bags into one cheap stripey shopping bag and used that as my one 10kg carry on bag.
Leaving Muscat, I contacted Cycle Omania, a bike shop that is located fairly close to the airport. They are more than happy to provide cardboard bike boxes, but they will also box your bike for a reasonable price. From there, you just order an XL taxi and it’s about 4 rial to the airport.
The Verdict
Oman gets a big thumbs up from me. Oman can pack a lot into a short trip both in terms of scenery and cultural immersion. Although I found some days incredibly tough, it was super rewarding experience overall.
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