Hiking & Bedouin Trekking in Egypt: Wild Mountains, Walked the Bedouin Way

Written by the Egypt Day Tours team and reviewed by our licensed Egyptologist guides. Last updated July 2026.

TL;DR: Egypt is one of the world’s great undiscovered hiking destinations, with two superb long-distance trails, the Sinai Trail and the Red Sea Mountain Trail, plus the classic peaks of Mount Sinai and Mount Catherine. Best of all, the trails are owned and run by the Bedouin themselves, so trekking here is a genuine adventure and a genuine good. Here is everything to know.

Say “Egypt” and people picture pyramids and the Nile, not mountains and hiking boots. Yet beyond the temples lies a vast wilderness of jagged peaks, hidden canyons, and silent high valleys, criss-crossed by ancient paths the Bedouin have walked for centuries. In the last decade, those paths became two of the most exciting long-distance trails on earth, and they belong to the Bedouin who guide them. This is Egypt’s best-kept adventure secret.

We will tell you how it works, why it matters, and how to do it right.

Yes. Egypt’s South Sinai and Red Sea mountains offer world-class trekking through dramatic, empty wilderness, on two Bedouin-built long-distance trails plus classic peaks like Mount Sinai and Mount Catherine. It is one of the most underrated hiking destinations anywhere.

The landscapes are extraordinary and the trails are almost crowd-free. Add Bedouin guides who know every rock and spring, and you have adventure travel at its best.

Egypt has two: the Sinai Trail, its first long-distance hike, now 550km across the territory of eight South Sinai Bedouin tribes, and the Red Sea Mountain Trail, around 170km in the mainland mountains near Hurghada. Both can be walked in stages or in full.

These are world-class, community-owned routes. Explore the Sinai Trail trek and the Red Sea Mountain Trail trek.

Because the trails are theirs. The Sinai Trail and Red Sea Mountain Trail are Bedouin-owned community projects, guided by the tribes whose land they cross. Trekking with them means unmatched local knowledge, real hospitality, and tourism income going directly to the mountain communities.

This is the heart of it, and it is why we partner genuinely with the Bedouin cooperatives. Learn the full story on our Bedouin culture and community trekking page.

The classic peaks are Mount Sinai (Gebel Musa), the biblical mountain climbed for sunrise above St Catherine’s Monastery, and Mount Catherine (Gebel Katherina), Egypt’s highest at 2,629m. One is accessible to most; the other is a tougher summit for keen hikers.

Both are unforgettable. See the Mount Sinai sunrise trek and the Mount Catherine trek.

South Sinai’s mountains, where the trekking happens, are well-established for hiking and operate safely with Bedouin guides. North Sinai is a separate region that is off-limits. As always, check your government’s current travel advice before booking.

We will give you the honest, current picture and never send you anywhere unsafe. The trekking regions are well away from any trouble.

The best season is autumn to spring, when temperatures are comfortable, with options for every fitness level, from a Mount Sinai sunrise that most can manage to serious multi-day expeditions. We match the trek to you.

Plan around the cool months and your fitness. Our trekking in Egypt guide covers timing, fitness, and kit, and our best hikes in Egypt guide lays out every option.

Egypt’s mountains are a revelation: wild, empty, ancient, and walked the Bedouin way. Whether you climb Mount Sinai for one unforgettable sunrise or set out for days along a Bedouin trail, you will see an Egypt almost no visitor does, and your journey will help keep these mountain cultures alive.

Tell us your fitness, your time, and your appetite for adventure, and we will build the trek around it. Pair it with the Red Sea or desert stargazing.