The Golan, elevated some 600 meters from the Kineret{ sea of galilee}and the Yarden River on its western boundry, is a traveler's dream destination. Its natural landscape comprises wide-open spaces, woodlands and water-filled canyons, hot springs and ski slopes.
The Golan has two geographically distinct sections-the Hermon Range in the north and the Golan plateau in the south. The former has the highest peak in Israel-Mount Hermon. The summit of Mount Hermon in Israel's Mitzpeh Shlagim is 2.2km/1.4 mi above sea level.
The Golan plateau immediately to the south of the Hermon Range. It is a startlingly large, sixty- kilometer-long, basalt-covered tableland, sliced off by deep canyons at its edges. The basalt on the Golan comes from a series of now extinct volcanoes whose thumb-like contours and craters dot the Golan. serving as good scenic lookouts along the flat plateau. Volcanic activity on the Golan has also resulted in geological formations created by the lava that once flowed out of the volcanoes, as well as a myriad of paleornagnetic phenomena.
The plateau slopes gently from north to south, descending from 1,200 meters above sea level on its northern edge to 300 meters above sea level at its southern rim.
The Golan, elevated some 600 meters from the Kineret{ sea of galilee}and the Yarden River on its western boundry, is a traveler's dream destination. Its natural landscape comprises wide-open spaces, woodlands and water-filled canyons, hot springs and ski slopes.