Hike Umm Ad Dami: Climb Jordan’s Highest Desert Peak and Explore Wadi Rum

The day begins with the rest house in Wadi Rum Village still cool and quiet; 4x4s hum awake as the desert exhales, and a Bedouin guide folds a map into a pocket like a promise. From there the vehicle slides away from the ribbon of asphalt into the red sand, where sandstone walls lean in and the wind starts to tell stories. By mid-morning the jeep drops the group at the base of Jebel Umm ad Dami. The mountain stands less like a challenge and more like a patient teacher: rocky slopes, loose scree, and short stretches of scrambling that reward persistence with a view that makes the whole drive make sense — the Red Sea twinkling far south, Saudi Arabia’s hills soft on the horizon.