Mt. Katharina

Trek 2

Mt. Katharina is the highest mountain in Egypt at 2642 metres, with a small Orthodox church on the summit. According to tradition this is the place where monks, after a dream, found the missing body of the martyred St. Katherina. Jebel Musa (Mt. Sinai) is below, and the views onto it and the whole high mountain area are stunning. It is a tough 3-4 hours climb, but very worth the effort. Mt. Katharina is usually approached from Wadi Arbain and it could be climbed in one single day, but several other routes exist and doing it overnight is recommended.

Other names/spellings: Mt., Mount, Jabal, Gebel, Gabal, Djebel, Djabal – Katherina, Katherine, Katarina, Katrina, Katerina, Catherina, Catherine



  • The Mt. Katharina range: a longer range, with its peak not visible from town, that starts in St. Katherine with Jebel Raba and runs many miles until it descends towards the plains around Wadi Rahaba and the steep and narrow wadis running to the Jebel Umm Shaumar area.
  • Mt. Katharina: a black massif, its summit can be approached from Farsh Umm Silla or the Mt. Katharina plateau. Farsh Umm Silla is connected to Wadi Arbain via Wadi Shaq Musa and to Wadi Mathar via Wadi Umm Silla or Wadi Ahmar. The Mt. Katherine plateau is connected to Wadi Arbain via Wadi Jarijniya or to Rotok via an old army road road.
  • Jebel Ahmar: a round topped granite peak between Mt. Katharina and Jebel Raba, with great views on town and Mt. Sinai. Wadi Ahmar is a steep gully over the range, on one side connecting to Wadi Arbain, on the other to Wadi Mathar. One of the routes from Farsh Umm Silla is via Wadi Ahmar.
  • Jebel Raba: granite mountain at the start of the range with several peaks encircling Farsh Raba, which can be reached from either Naqb Abu Heyman or Wadi Umm Serdi. It is connected to the top of Wadi Ahmar and then Farsh Umm Silla.

More details: Trek 2 


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