Wadi Bimmah
Wadi Bimmah (aka the Snake Canyon) is a very scenic canyon located near Balad Sayt in Wadi Bani Awf, in the South Batinah Governorate of Oman. The road is extreme. Only 4x4, and even these cars can not make it sometimes if you are not a good driver.
The road to the Snake Canyon, a narrow gorge offering several jumps of 3/4 meters and 2 abseils of 20m, is gravel and starts near Rustaq, a town of northern Oman. It’s 39.1 km long. Your wheels will be astounded at the wonderful views of the mountains spread out before you! They are terrible for drivers who are prone to vertigo. Most of the road is bordered by a drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) unprotected by guardrails.
The surface on this gravel road is often loose, especially along the sides of the road. Due its unique location and passing through remote areas, it is important when driving in these conditions to be prepared. The route through Wadi Bani Awuf goes through beautiful scenery and connects all the way to Bilad Sayat in Al Dakhiliya region by crossing the Hajr Mountains and offers some of the best off-road driving experience you can find. In some parts of the canyon, you can touch both sides at the same time… not far from the beginning of the canyon it is required to abseil 2 times 20 meters. Then a nice descent alternating jumps, walk, and swim. Obviously, the ones who don't want to jump can always go down abseiling.
This track can get very muddy and slippery after rain making it challenging to get through. During and after a storm the road may be impassable, even with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The road is unpaved and you definitly need a good 4 WD and a guide. If you can go with more than one car it is even better as sometimes you will feel 100% alone in this track except some goats from here and there and you will be in direct contact with the nature. The views in this road are magnificient, just make sure to have some extra petrol in your car, allot of water and food and definitly a guide and a good driver.
Road suggested by: Hugh Wilson
Pic: alsabahi saif