The hexagons of the Meshushim Pool and surrounding flora 

The Meshushim Stream is the longest stream in the Golan Heights. It starts from springs at the foot of Mount Avital and flows 35 Km to Lake Kinneret. Its tributaries are the Katzrin Stream and Zavitan Stream. It has flowing water all year round. There are no reservoirs in its path and the amount of water flowing into Lake Kinneret during the winter can be considerable.

The surface rock of the Golan Heights is basalt, which is a volcanic rock. When the flowing magna cooled, it did so as hexagonal columns. These columns have been exposed by erosion at the Hexagon Pool. If you look carefully at the columns, you will see that they are slightly bent. This is because of different rates of cooling of the outside and inside of the column. The direction of the bend indicates the direction of the larva flow before it hardened. This type of rock formation is widespread throughout the Golan Heights, and there are other examples even in this reserve.

Over the centuries, this country became depleted of much of its trees. During the Ottoman period, in particular, many trees in then Palestine were cut down for fuel for trains. The trees in this park are sparsely scattered; although the forest here is gradually recovering. The main tree found in the Yehudiya Nature Reserve is Mount Tabor Oak. Other trees that can be seen are officinal storex, Christ’s Thorn jujube and Atlantic pistachio.

A recording on the Lookout Trail mentions an interesting fact about oak trees. Their acorns are large and heavy and therefore fall close to the oak tree. However, they are carried away by rodents. They do not eat the seeds but take them to their lairs, which happen to be ideal places for germination of the acorns.