Najd Al Maqsar to Wadi Shees | Mountain, Wadi & Heritage Drive

📍 About This Route

Some road trips are about reaching one destination.

This one is about everything you discover along the way.

Our route from Najd Al Maqsar to Wadi Shees turned into a wonderful day exploring the mountains around Khorfakkan. We combined an old mountain village, an impressive dam, an archaeological site, a sand-track section and finally the beautiful Wadi Shees.

It is the kind of route I enjoy because the landscape keeps changing.

Village → Dam → Sand Track → Archaeology → Wadi → Mountains

And you can comfortably make it into a full-day family exploration.

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🏘️ Najd Al Maqsar Village

Our first stop was Najd Al Maqsar, a historic mountain village that has been reconstructed and restored as part of tourism development and preservation of the archaeological area.

The village consists of a number of old houses, and the surrounding area has an interesting history.

Rocks engraved with drawings of camels and horses dating back to around 2,000 BC have been found in the Wadi Shai area.

That was one of the things I found fascinating.

You're driving through a modern mountain landscape, but evidence of people being here thousands of years ago is still part of the surroundings.

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🚗 Getting to the Village

The approach itself is interesting.

You leave the highway and take a small, narrow road before passing through a tunnel that leads towards the visitor parking area.

There is also a viewpoint where you can stop and look across the surrounding farmlands and houses.

It's a nice place to slow down before continuing the drive.

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🛣️ Scenic Mountain Drive Towards Khorfakkan

After exploring Najd Al Maqsar, we continued towards the Khorfakkan road.

This section of the journey is beautiful.

The road passes through the mountains and includes some impressive tunnels.

For me, this is one of those drives where I don't mind taking a little extra time.

The mountains around you keep changing as you move through the route.

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💧 Al Rafisah Dam

You can't really miss Al Rafisah Dam along this route.

It is located alongside the road and provides a convenient place to stop and take a break.

There is a:

☕ Café
🏡 Rest house
🕌 Mosque
🛝 Children's play area
🚤 Boating area

For families, this makes the dam a particularly useful stop.

One of the fun experiences for children is seeing the swans and other surroundings around the water.

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👨‍👩‍👧 Family Stop

If you're travelling with children, I'd definitely include some time at the dam.

After spending time exploring an old mountain village, having a relaxed break beside the water gives the day a nice change of pace.

One thing to keep in mind is that Al Rafisah Dam can become very busy during holidays, and parking may be difficult.

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🏜️ The Sand Track

After visiting the historic village and dam, we continued onto a sand track for several kilometres before reconnecting with the highway roundabout.

This is where the trip becomes a little more interesting for people who enjoy driving.

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📍 Sand Track Coordinates:
25°20’56.2″N 56°19’06.0″E

It's not an extreme off-road route, but it adds a nice change from the paved mountain roads.

🏺 Wadi Shie Archaeological Site

Along the sand-track section, you can also explore the Wadi Shie archaeological site.

📍 Coordinates:
25°20’49.7″N 56°19’37.9″E

This is another reminder that the mountains around this region have been connected to human activity for a very long time.

For me, combining the archaeology with the off-road section makes the route much more interesting.

You're not just driving.

You're exploring the landscape and its history at the same time.

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⛰️ Wadi Shees

Our route eventually brought us towards Wadi Shees, around 50 minutes towards Khor Fakkan.

📍 Coordinates:
25.288755, 56.248716

Wadi Shees has become a popular place for families and outdoor enthusiasts, with facilities including:

🥾 Hiking trails
🛝 Children's play area
🛒 Supermarket

But what attracted me most was the wadi track and mountain scenery.

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🚙 Wadi Shees Drive

The wadi drive is enjoyable because you get a combination of mountain scenery and unpaved sections.

Most of the route can be crossed relatively easily by SUVs.

There are two or three sections that become slightly technical, where sedan cars may experience some stress.

For an SUV, these sections are much more manageable.

If you're travelling with a group, this is a nice route where you can enjoy the scenery without turning the drive into an unnecessarily extreme challenge.