Located about 250 kilometers away from the city of Taif, on the western edge of the Harrat Kishb plateau in Makkah Province, the natural wonder of Al-Wabhah is one of its kind with its hollow structure and opaque lake in the center. It is 250 meters deep and 2 kilometers in diameter and is more famously known as Maqlaʿ Ṭamiyyah.
Tourism
The trek down to the bottom of Al-Wabhah Crater used to be extremely challenging and the climb back up was twice as challenging because of how steep and slippery the crater was. Over the course of the past few years, it has been modified to make it a tourist-friendly spot by building a stone wall, a trail, a mosque at the end of the entrance road, and picnic shelters around the rim.
Trekking Down to the Bottom
Beautiful as it is on the surface, the real wonder is at the bottom of the crater. As you enter the crater from the northern trail, you see white sodium phosphate crystals that make up a beautiful glittering crust in the center. The trek to the bottom can take around 45 to 50 minutes but every second of it is worth it as you go deeper and deeper into the heart of this mind-boggling natural wonder.
Whenever the area gets some rain it transforms into a pearly lake which, along with the green vegetation at the rim of the center, makes for a magnificent sight. While the desert around the crater is barren, the crater itself hosts beautiful palm trees and shrubs. A dried lava field is also visible on the northern edge of the hollow.
