White Mountain – A sparkling crystal hill

White Mountain, known in Arabic as Al-Sayra Al-Bayda or just Al-Sayra, is basically a giant pile of bright white quartz. It sits in a zone of volcanic granite domes and towers and probably represents part of a sill or dyke that was mineralized with quartz at a later stage. White Mountain certainly stands out among all the black terrain surrounding it, and it’s a striking sight at night when the west face is lit up by flood lights that have been installed by the authorities.

Located only a few hundred metres from a main road about 8 km east of Bisha, it is surprising that there’s actually no trail going to the top. You would expect more people come here for a short hike. Although you could scramble up the main (west) side, it is rather steep and rubbly, so it’s better to cross the sand to the backside where it’s easier to hike up. White Mountain is by any means a very short outing: despite being one of the highest peaks in the area at 1438 m, it’s only about 200 m of elevation gain to get to the top.

More details about this hike as well as other hikes can be found on the following website: www.spectacularmountains.com

The hike in Google Maps

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