Table de Jugurtha
- Hike
- Distance
- 10.5km
- Duration
- 3.5HRS
- Ascent
- 323M
Elevation profile
660-1212 M / TERRAIN TILES SAMPLED ALONG THE TRACK
Photographs
Photos: Camille56 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Anatiomaros (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Start point
- Car
- About 50 km south-west of Le Kef via Tajerouine; roughly 3 h 30 from Tunis.
- Louage
- Louage from Tunis Bab Saadoun station to Le Kef (verify locally), then louage to Kalaat Senan.
Nearby
The trail
A climb onto the flat-topped mesa of Jugurtha, up a rock-cut stair, then down to Kalaat Senan.
The Table de Jugurtha is a limestone mesa about 1,500 m long and 500 m wide that stands nearly 600 m above the Ez-Zghalma plain, a textbook case of inverted relief where an old valley floor now forms the summit. Sheer cliffs guard it on every side and the only way up is a stair cut into the rock through a gate. Numidian king Jugurtha is said to have held out here against Rome around 112-105 BC, and the plateau keeps cisterns, ruins and a marabout. The Ain Senan spring at its foot supplies the local villages.
- Rock-cut stair and gate
- Cliff-ringed summit plateau (1,271 m)
- Cisterns and ruins
- Views into Algeria
Weather and season
- SEASON
- Mar-Jun and Sep-Nov
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rainfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11.2 C | 1.9 C | 35 mm |
| February | 11.9 C | 2.1 C | 37 mm |
| March | 15.1 C | 4.4 C | 54 mm |
| April | 20.2 C | 7.7 C | 45 mm |
| May | 24.3 C | 10.8 C | 35 mm |
| June | 29.8 C | 15.4 C | 15 mm |
| July | 33.8 C | 18.8 C | 4 mm |
| August | 32.8 C | 18.5 C | 15 mm |
| September | 27.8 C | 15.5 C | 27 mm |
| October | 22.6 C | 11.5 C | 37 mm |
| November | 16.3 C | 7 C | 35 mm |
| December | 12.1 C | 3.3 C | 30 mm |
Monthly normals 2011-2020 at the start point, from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0). Shaded months are the season this trail is listed for.
Practical
- Water
- None on the plateau; carry 2 L.
- Guide
- recommended
- Hazards
- Exposed stair and cliff edges; very close to the Algerian border, so carry ID and follow local advice.
- Route
- Approximate line along mapped paths between verified waypoints. Follow a guide or a GPS track on the ground.
Go with a guide
These operators and clubs organise guided hikes in Tunisia:
- WildyNessTunisian booking platform for guided hikes with local guides (Cap Blanc, Mides, Selja, Dahar, El Haouaria), several with GPS downloads.
- Association Tunisienne des RandonneursHiking association in Tunis that runs and writes up group hikes across the country.
- Mosaic North AfricaTour operator offering custom hiking trips, including the Chebika, Tamerza and Mides oases.
- Destination DaharPublishes the official topoguide (12 stages, 194 km) of the Grande Traversee du Dahar.
- Grand Sahara AventuresDjerba-based operator running Berber village and desert treks in the south.
- Destination TunisTunis-based guide publishing and leading day hikes around Tunis and Cap Bon.