Of all the canyons we visited in the Sinai, I had the least expectations for White Canyon. I’d seen one average looking picture and that was it. However, as big canyon fans, we wanted to see as many as possible and so tacked this on to a trip we were doing to Salama and Coloured Canyon.
Well, it’s fair to say that the White Canyon blew us away. It’s magnificent, and though the narrow slot sections are not particularly long, the entire walk is utterly stunning. We visited nine hours into our day trip and the tiredness ebbed away with every step deeper into the canyon.
Here’s exactly what to expect on a trip into the White Canyon.
The walk through White Canyon
The stats
Distance: 2.7km
Elevation gain: 150m
Difficulty: Moderate due to the exit route, otherwise easy
The majority of the walk through White Canyon is an easy flat stroll, albeit on thick sand, which makes it more tiring than the stats would suggest.
Whilst it is easy, there are two notable exceptions. One is the climb up through the first narrow section of the canyon. It’s not difficult and there are plenty of hand and footholds, but it’s a bit of a scramble. You’ll also need to climb down a section which has smaller footholds, it’s not long, and we have photos in the post to show you exactly what it’s like.
The second exception is the final climb out of the canyon at the end, which is the most adventurous part of the walk. You’ll need to ascend a ladder and then do two very short rope assisted climbs. Again, we have photos and will give detailed descriptions below. The guides will give lots of help to anyone that needs it.
The walk through White Canyon
Starting the trail at the desert oasis
The walk begins at the desert oasis Bedouin camp and heads through the fence and directly into the desert. It’s beautiful to see the palm trees backed by endless sand and mountains.
After 350m commuting under a few fences you’ll reach the official start of the trail into the canyon.
There is a narrow stony path slightly uphill, and then slightly downhill before you reach the canyon floor, 500m from the oasis.
The sand goes from yellow to bright white, and the deep orange mountains make for a striking start. I thought most of the walk would continue in the same fashion, but it gets more and more beautiful the further you go.
After 500m on the canyon’s sandy bottom (1km into the walk) you’ll begin heading uphill.
Heading up into the slot
From the moment you begin walking up the rocky path towards a narrower part of the canyon the walk gets seriously beautiful.
We were walking in the late afternoon, when the rock turned a deep orange and the full shade made the trail so much easier.
After 150m of easy walking up the rock shelves, you’ll reach the first little climb, which is a bit of a scramble.
The rock turns from orange to pure white and you have just a few ‘steps’ to climb up into the first slot. There are no stairs, but there are good holds for hands and feet, and no exposure.
You then have around 90m walking through a very narrow part of the canyon, with several wide ledges (more like big rock platforms), which you can step out onto for some stupendous views down into the wide part of the canyon below.
It’s totally gorgeous and it’s from this moment that I stopped thinking about feeling a bit fatigued and started feeling in awe of yet another beautiful Egyptian canyon.
Through the canyon
What goes up must come down, and to get into the next section of the canyon requires a climb down. It’s in two parts.
One part is easy and and just involves walking down a few rocks. The second part involves walking down a few steps with much smaller holds.
This requires going backwards, so you can’t see the holds. Personally, I just had Joe show me where to put my feet and make sure I got into the holds, although your guide would also happily do this if needed.
After this, you have about 800m walking through a more open, but glorious section of canyon. The sandy path is very wide, but the cliff walls are tall, so you still have canyon vibes despite it not being narrow.
The sandy coloured cliffs are truly beautiful and the path straightforward.
Onto the more adventurous section
Once you’ve been walking for about 2.1km you’ll hit a short rocky patch. It’s mainly just walking over, rather than up rocks, but there are the odd one or two you need to climb over.
The views continue to be fabulous and I lost count of how many photos and videos we took.
Roughly 400m later you’ll come to a proper slot, it’s short but gorgeous. The walls tower over you and the winding path through them is narrow and awe-inspiring.
These narrow sections are always my favourite part of any canyon walk, and though in White Canyon they are few and far between, it was still more than I was expecting before the walk.
Once you’ve passed through the slot you have one slightly larger rock to climb up, but again there is good footing and it’s just two steps up.
However 100m later you’ll reach the climb out of the canyon and this is where the tempo turns up.
The climb out
The climb out the canyon is just 100m long, but it was quite the surprise! It starts with a ladder. Now generally speaking I love ladders and will often seek out walks that include them to spice it up a bit.
This one was definitely more wobbly than I’m used to, but still not too bad. If you lean into it, it seems to stabilise a bit.
Then you’re up on a narrow section which requires you climbing a little with a rope. I’ll be honest, I’m not the best at these kinds of things and I was grateful for the rope (apparently it didn’t used to be there!).
It’s a very short section, but the hand and footholds are less obvious, so the rope adds security.
You are then up on a wider piece of rock and have just one last short climb up to the car park. This section has really good footholds carved into the rock.
It’s steep and looked intimidating from below, but there’s a sturdy rope. The holds are great and it surprised me in being the easiest part of the climb out.
You’ll then be standing above the canyon and get a last look down into the canyon below and out across the desert. We finished bang on sunset and it was the perfect end to an amazing day exploring some of the best canyons in the Sinai.
If you love the climb out at White Canyon and are keen to try another adventurous slot in the area, then Arada Canyon was amazing, and we couldn’t recommend it more highly.
The logistics of visiting White Canyon
You’ll need some kind of tour
Generally speaking, we are the anti-tour people. Most of our articles are focused on explaining how to do “x without a tour”. We just prefer to be independent. However, as with the rest of the Sinai canyons, you do need to take some kind tour to visit White Canyon.
Although once you’re in the canyon you can’t go wrong, getting to it requires a 4WD, and some good desert driving skills. You also walk the canyon one way on a tour while the driver moves the car to meet you at the other end, which was great and something you couldn’t do on your own.
As far as we can tell from our time here, tourists safety in the region is paramount and you will need permits and to be registered with the tourist police to visit the canyon. Even going to the Blue Hole in Dahab alone required paperwork, which we hadn’t been expecting!
You can visit White Canyon with a group tour, or a private tour. A group tour is far cheaper, but offers no flexibility. We wanted to do a custom tour so chose to go privately.
Additions to a tour to White Canyon
Your average tour to White Canyon will generally include visiting Salama Canyon (Small Coloured Canyon, not Coloured Canyon), Mushroom Rock and a desert oasis for lunch. We did all this, but also added in the real Coloured Canyon - the most mind-blowing canyon of them all.
You will of course pay a lot for this because it’s private and you need a day’s use of a Land Cruiser, which doesn’t come cheap. However, after initially being sceptical about the price, it was worth every penny. We did not go with the cheapest company, we went with the person we liked the best and trusted the most.
This was important to us due to the logistics of getting to the real Coloured Canyon, not the small one that most tour operators pretend is the Coloured Canyon. We paid USD $150 total for our trip, which included three canyons, Mushroom Rock and lunch at a desert oasis. We were initially sceptical about the cost, but the trip ran from 8am to 6.30pm and was totally worth the money.
If you want to speak to our guide, contact Tarek on +20 127 301 2274.
Just in case you’re wondering, we paid full price for this tour and have no affiliation with Tarek. We just had a brilliant trip and would recommend him if you want a custom tour.
Update for 2024: we’ve recently spoken to Tarek who has informed us that due to rising costs the trip is now USD $180 for two people.
Where to stay in Dahab
Le Meridien
Le Meridien is an oasis of tranquility in Dahab, it was perfectly quiet - which is incredibly rare in Egypt. As it’s set a little way out of town, it means you’re away from the hustle and bustle, but the drive in only takes 10 minutes and costs about 50 EGP ($2 USD) one way - do not use the hotel’s taxi service though which is very over priced. You’ll want to grab the number of a driver from town and then call or Whatsapp them for lifts.
The deluxe rooms are comfy, quiet, spacious and some come with an outdoor shower, which was my absolute favourite way to end the day. The resort also has 3 pools (2 saltwater, 1 fresh), its own beach and pretty grounds. It’s one of the best hotels we stayed in in Egypt and if you visit out of peak season, you can snag a great deal.
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