Sharm El Sheikh: Hikes & Treks
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Sharm el-Sheikh itself has no real hiking terrain, it’s a coastal resort strip on a desert coastline, and the actual walking here is either underwater or a genuine drive inland. Both are worth doing, they just need honest expectations about distance and, in one case, the current travel advisory.
Three hikes at a glance
| Hike | Distance from Sharm | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa) | ~2.5-3h each way | Overnight climb, sunrise summit | A genuine pilgrimage-grade trek |
| Colored Canyon | Bundled into a Sinai desert day | Half day | Easy scrambling, no advisory crossing |
| Ras Mohammed’s land trails | ~12km SW | A few hours | Easy walking paired with a dive day |
Mount Sinai: an overnight climb, not a casual hike
Mount Sinai, or Jebel Musa, rises to 2,285m about 2km from St Catherine’s Monastery, and it’s the traditional site where Moses received the Ten Commandments, sacred across Judaism, Christianity and Islam, so treat the climb with the respect that history asks for. Two routes reach the summit: the longer camel path, walkable or by camel, and the steeper “3,750 Steps of Repentance” direct from the monastery. Most visitors climb overnight to reach the top for sunrise, a Greek Orthodox chapel built in 1934 marks the summit, and a guide is mandatory either way, with cafe stalls and a small rentable-blanket camp near the top supporting the trek.
This is the one hike on this list that actually needs advisory awareness. St Catherine sits in the Sinai interior, past the coastal strip covered by Sharm’s free entry permit, so the trip needs both a full Egyptian e-visa and a licensed organized tour, not a self-drive plan. Check your government’s current Sinai travel advisory before booking; the Red Sea resort strip itself remains a well-established exception to Egypt’s wider regional warnings, but this specific route crosses into the area the advisory is actually about.
Colored Canyon: an easy scramble, no advisory question
The Colored Canyon, a narrow sandstone slot canyon near Nuweiba, formed by an ancient retreating sea cutting through the rock, runs up to 40m tall and about 800m long, striped red, pink and orange by mineral deposits. It requires some basic scrambling over rocks rather than technical hiking, and it’s usually sold as part of a broader Sinai jeep or desert-safari day rather than a standalone trip. Local Bedouin lore holds Moses was once lost here for 40 years, worth knowing as folklore rather than treating it as documented history.
Ras Mohammed’s land side, for an easy walk between dives
Ras Mohammed National Park isn’t purely a boat-based dive site, its land side has entry gates, beaches and short walking trails for anyone who wants a break from the water, with genuinely dry, hot conditions year-round, summer highs above 40°C and winter highs around 23°C. It’s a good pairing for a dive day rather than a dedicated hiking trip on its own, an hour or two of easy walking bookending the reef time.
Pack for the desert, not the beach
Whichever of these you choose, carry more water than feels necessary, wear closed shoes rather than sandals, and start early to beat the heat, especially outside the Mount Sinai overnight climb, which sidesteps daytime heat by design. Modest dress matters at the monastery specifically, cover shoulders and knees, even though swimwear and casual dress are fine back at your resort.
For the fuller day-trip logistics behind Mount Sinai and the Colored Canyon, see our day trips guide ; our nature spots guide covers Ras Mohammed’s marine side in more depth. Check a Mount Sinai overnight tour through a licensed operator rather than attempting the route independently.
One concrete move: if Mount Sinai is on your list, book it for a day in the middle of your trip rather than right before a flight home. The overnight climb and the long drive back leave most people wanting a full rest day afterward, not an early departure.