The Balcony Walk is every bit as wonderful as you’ve probably heard that it is. The trail is built into the side of Oman’s Grand Canyon, allowing you access to jaw-dropping views from inside the canyon itself. Viewing the canyon from the rim is amazing, but there’s nothing like going beneath the rim and really feeling part of the landscape.
You don’t need to walk the length of the trail to make it worth it (and we’ll note a few good turnaround points in our trail notes), but if you do, you’ll get to see the remains of an abandoned and if you go slightly further still, a hidden cave and pool.
By Omani standards this is a very well maintained track, with little of the rubbly sections and boulder hopping you’ll find on most wadi walks.
Here’s everything you need to know about Oman’s Balcony Walk.
The Balcony Walk (W6 Trail)
The stats
Distance: 8.2km return (9km return if you include the hidden cave)
Elevation gain: 350m
Difficulty: Easy, but not flat
Summary: The Balcony Walk (aka W6 Trail) is a mix of flat and downhill track on the way and then flat and uphill on the way back. If you want to continue to the hidden cave there’s a bit more uphill, but it’s still not difficult.
The terrain is generally very good, much of the path is a smooth dirt/gravel track. There are a couple of sections which are rocky, but they are brief.
As mentioned, you don’t need to complete the whole trail for incredible views. Even heading a few hundred metres - but preferably a kilometre where there is a particularly good lookout - is worth it.
The path is well marked and easy to follow right up until the abandoned village. If you’re looking for the cave and pool, it’s trickier and we spent over an hour searching for it. That won’t happen to you though as we have included directions and the coordinates in the notes below.
Starting the trail: to the cafes and viewpoint
From the parking area (details below) the trail heads slightly downhill, past a couple of honesty box toilets and begins following the edge of the canyon.
You’ll no doubt be joined by a few goats before you arrive at the first cafe 300m later. It’s a rustic set up with plastic tables and chairs and a wooden roof to provide a bit of shade, but the views are out of this world.
The path gently descends and is generally in good condition, but you will hit a rubbly rocky patch about 300m later. This is the longest rubble patch of the track, so if you’re ok with this one then the rest will be no problem at all.
The track will begin to flatten out again and you’ll continue to be wowed by the views - though they only get better!
Just 700m from the first cafe you’ll come to a second. There were only two small tables and chairs set up on our visit and no shade, but the view is dramatic.
The drinks were from a cool box with all the usual suspects on the menu.
Just beside the cafe is one of the best views on the trail. You actually divert from the path slightly (100m each way) and head down towards the canyon.
There are several tiers to the natural lookout and all provide sensational views into the canyon. The track is gravel and heads slightly downhill, but it’s easy and well worth it.
This is a good turnaround point if you don’t fancy doing the whole walk. The view is one of the best on the entire track and walking here, having a drink at the makeshift cafe and then heading back is perfect if you’re only looking to do a short walk.
But incase you’re on the fence, know that the rest of the trail is smoother and I would say easier (terrain-wise) than this first bit, so don’t be put off thinking it gets steeper or more challenging.
Traversing the canyon walls
From the incredible viewpoint the walk only gets better. The path smooths out and snakes around the side of the canyon, with wow factor view after wow factor view. The track is predominantly flat or a very gradual descent, which on the way there feels very easy.
The first kilometre or so after the cafe and lookout are on a similar path and then there are a few points where it gets a bit narrower.
I never felt like it was precarious in any way, or so narrow as to feel the onset of jelly legs, but if you do suffer from vertigo it may be unnerving.
The track had largely emptied out as we were walking this stretch and the silence and vistas were unbelievable.
We hadn’t even finished the trail before declaring it one of our favourite walks in the Middle East. Some countries claim they have a grand canyon and it turns out to be rather modest, Oman’s Grand Canyon is the real deal.
To the abandoned village and terraces
After you’ve been walking for just over 2.3km (from the car park) you’ll arrive at a large shady overhang, complete with small wooden bench. It’s a nice place to sit and take a minute if you need a little break from the sun.
The track begins heading gently downhill and for the most part it’s smooth, with the odd little rocky section. The good terrain means you can really soak up those views.
Just under 1km from the bench seat you’ll come to the start of the abandoned village of As Sab. I wasn’t able to find much information about what happened to the village, but what you’ll find there now is a series of ruins.
It starts with a few abandoned buildings on the trail itself and there are more you can climb up to right at the end of the path, another few hundred metres away.
Just past the first ruins you’ll get to a great view of the now barren terraces. A few people turned back here, but you can actually go further into the abandoned village. Continue along the main trail and you’ll come to an expansive rock platform with terrific views.
From here you can walk to the far end (where the retaining wall is) and then take the path on the left, leading up to the buildings. It’s uneven but only takes a few minutes to get up to the houses, there’s nothing left in them to see, but it’s cool to have a little peep inside nonetheless.
How to find the hidden cave and pool
From the rock platform above the terraces to the pool is 300m away (400m if you include going around the boulders and into the cave itself). Though technically it is signposted, it’s not signposted from the terraces and 99% of people we met didn’t even know the trail continued.
We spent well over an hour on the wrong side of the mountain looking for it before finally finding the right track. When you know how, it’s easy, so the best thing to do is look out for the large sign written in Arabic with yellow graffiti on it.
From here you need to make a left, heading up the rocky path. You won’t see the telltale coloured dashes that indicate you’re on track until you’ve climbed a little way up this rocky path (120m) and reach a junction.
From the junction take an immediate left, along the smooth gravel path (there’s a white dot on the rock to confirm you’re going the right way). From here you won’t miss the markers and it’s easy. It’s these two initial left turns which are not obvious.
Keep following the path which is smooth and then gets a little rocky before arriving at a few larger boulders. Climb down the boulders - which is a 70m section and easy - with the coloured markers indicating the most straightforward route. You will then arrive at the edge of the pool.
You can access the cave by traversing the boulders at the edge of the pool for 100m before coming to the rocky ledge on the other side of the water and walking into the cave.
The silence here was absolute and that was a marked difference from the main Balcony Walk, which had become pretty busy by this point in our hike.
We stayed at the cave for 20-30 minutes and never saw or heard another soul. I had wondered if swimming might be possible in the pool, but on our visit it was quite weedy, it may be possible at other times of year.
The cave itself is pretty big, not deep, so it’s light inside, more of an overhang really, but a fun spot to visit and offers great views over the pool and mountains.
When you’re ready to leave you simply retrace your steps all the way back to the car park having completed one of Oman’s best hikes.
The best time to do the Balcony Walk
Depending on what time of day you’re walking, the track may be predominantly in the sun - which despite the fact it’s in the mountains and much cooler than Muscat, can feel very intense. The trail falls into shadow in the afternoon (from 2/3pm in the winter) which will be the most comfortable time for hiking, but not the best for photography, as all your pictures will be in shadow and if part of the canyon is in sunlight it will be a harsh contrast.
The early morning can be a great bet as even when the sun comes over the track (it was in full sun by 8am on our visit) the temperatures are still cooler than they are in the afternoon.
If you want to avoid the crowds then we recommend starting off very early, as this is the quietest time of day to hike. We left at 8am (later than we planned) and we don’t recommended it - if you like to linger, you will end up walking back uphill at the hottest time of day. We also encountered quite a few people.
For the first kilometre, we were trailing behind a tour group, which wasn’t really the experience we were hoping for, but they did turn back after that. Many people do not complete the full track, so if it is very busy at the beginning, there’s a good chance you’ll lose the worst of the crowds at some point.
The quietest time to hike the trail is the early morning (more like 7am than 8am) or the late afternoon and walk back under the stars. This was our original plan before we saw the path was in full shadow, which made photography difficult.
In terms of seasonality, it is going to be most comfortable between December and February, but it is around 12C cooler than Muscat in Jebel Shams, so hiking in the warmer months is possible - just be aware that 12C cooler can still be 35C plus. We hiked in November and though it was quite cool (it said it was 25C when we visited) the sun was still intense.
Getting to the Balcony Walk
The Balcony Walk is located in Jebel Shams, around 240km and a 3.5 hour drive from Muscat. It’s around 90km and 1 hour 50 minutes from Nizwa and 140km and a 2 hour 45 minute drive from Jebel Akhdar.
As you begin driving into the mountains the road becomes steep (ish), but is paved and easy for much of the way. The last 7km into the area where all the Jebel Shams hotels are located is a gravel road. This is well graded and in good condition, unless floods have wreaked havoc.
A 4WD is not mandatory here like it is in Jebel Akhdar, but we only saw one car that was a 2WD. You by no means need a 4WD, but a car with some clearance and oomph will make most people feel more comfortable. A decent SUV would be fine, but if you do plan on visiting Jebel Akhdar you’ll need a 4WD anyway.
The road is wide enough for two cars to pass easily for almost its entire length, there are one or two very short narrower parts, but it’s generally an easy mountain road. The wide road means you don’t get that ‘I might fly over the edge’ feeling you get on some mountain roads.
Once you have reached the resorts the road becomes paved again, however, as you pass the last one (Jebel Shams Resort) the road to the Balcony Walk trailhead becomes dirt once again. I would say this bit is a little more bumpy than the main mountain road into Jebel Shams, but still easy enough.
When it comes to parking, it’s free right beside the trailhead. It’s actually quite a small car park, but we visited a couple of times and never saw it full (however we weren’t quite into peak season at that point).
Facilities at the Balcony Walk
You’ll find a small cafe and souvenir stall area at the car park, as well as a toilet, which is charged at 300 Baisa (approx USD $0.85). There are a further two toilets located along the start of the trail charged at 500 Baisa. These are payable via an honesty box.
There are two cafes located along the trail. The first at 300m and the second at 1km. The first has a few chairs and tables, some of which are under the wooden roof providing a bit of shade, the second is a guy with a cool box and a couple of tables and chairs but no shade. Both have phenomenal views.
Where to stay near the Balcony Walk
Sama Heights Resort
We stayed at the Sama Heights Resort in one of the Grand Chalets. We didn’t actually want to book the expensive chalet, but it was the only room left! However, when we got there we were actually quite glad to have it because it was a really nice stand alone room with a lovely view and so quiet. As in no noise whatsoever, which was a rarity in Oman.
The bed was comfy and the shower was decent enough. There was no wifi (or perhaps it didn’t reach the room) but that was a small trade off for absolute peace and serenity. There is AC, though I can’t imagine needing it unless it’s the height of summer.
Dinner and breakfast were included in the room rate and were pretty good, dinner more so than breakfast, but both were better than several other buffet dinners we had in other hotels.
The other thing that I really appreciated about the hotel was that they kindly let us come back and have a shower after the Balcony Walk (when we had already checked out). I wasn’t looking forward to a three hour drive in my sweaty hiking gear and was super grateful they allowed us to do this even though it was 1pm and people would begin checking in an hour later.
You can check the reviews and prices on:
Balcony Walk Rest House
The other place I considered staying was the Balcony walk rest house Jabal Shams. It’s a stand alone chalet and looked pretty basic, but it’s location beside the Balcony Walk trailhead looked remote and wonderful. I think it’s overpriced, especially as you need to bring your own food or eat at their neighbours house (which based on reviews charged the same prices as a relatively high end Muscat restaurant) but if you want to be alone in a spectacular location, which even had a fire pit, then you probably can’t beat it.
Another great option if you have the gear is to wild camp. We saw lots of people with rooftop tents on their cars and you have a lot of choice as to where to sleep - we even saw people setting up camp at Sunset Point which looked idyllic.
You can check the reviews and prices on:
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