Harod Spring National Park

10km/6mi southeast of Afula near the village of Gidona (founded 1949), at the foot of Mount Gilboa, is the Ma'ayan Harod National Park (camping site, youth hostel), with an artificial lake (swimming pool) surrounded by eucalyptus trees in which is the source of the river Harod. The spring at Harod is believed to be the "well of Harod" at which Gideon selected the three hundred men with whom he defeated the Midianites (Judges 7,5-7). In the Middle Ages this was the scene of another battle (1260), in which the Mameluke general Baibars won a decisive victory over the Mongols, who had advanced as far as Gaza, and drove them back into northern Syria. After this victory he became Sultan of Egypt and Syria.

The Harod Spring bubbles in a cave on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. The clear water flows in a brook through the grassy Harod Spring National Park en route to its final destination: the Jezre?el Valley farms.
The cave is called Gideon?s Cave, based on a story in Judges. Gideon tested his soldiers by asking them to drink the water from Harod Spring. Three hundred did not bow down to drink from the river but instead drank like dogs - "who lap up the water with their tongues." These proud but thirsty souls were chosen to battle the Midianites, an encounter which ended in victory for the Israelites.

National Park On the slope above the spring is the abandoned house of Joshua Hankin. Hankin dug a small cave near his house, and there he buried his wife, Olga. The two pillars near the grave are reminiscent of those seen in mishnaic- and talmudic-period burial caves. The courtyard of Hankin?s house offers a fine view of the Jezre?el Valley and lower Galilee. Near the house is a monument to residents of the Jezre?el Valley who fell in war.
The national park also has a very large swimming pool.

Directions:
Harod Spring Nature Reserve is on Route 71 between Afula and Beit She\'an. Ten kilometers from Afula, turn in the direction of Gideona. Another option is to take Route 675 from Hasargel junction to Navot junction; the entrance to the national park is a kilometer past the junction.

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