Asir National Park

The Asir National Park, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, covers 1 million acres from the southern Red Sea coast to the desert areas east of the mountains.

The park is a cool, green paradise featuring valleys and scenic mountain views. It is actually a conglomeration of small parks, rather than one large one.

The park has two main sections — mountains in the northwest and plains in the southeast. The largest preserve in Saudi Arabia is the Al-Khunfah, in the northwest part of the park.

The 9,544-foot Jebel Sawdah, the country's highest mountain, is within Asir. The mountains are part of the same geological fault as the Great Rift Valley in Africa.

Hiking, camping, hill climbing and various other outdoor recreational activities are possible within the park.

Visitors can enjoy the park's spectacular views and observe wildlife, including gazelles, baboon, leopards and oryx. Birds found in the park include amethyst starling, spotted eagle owl, Asir magpie and the endangered bald ibis.

Each of the individual parks has a free campground and picnic area, though the campgrounds have no facilities.

The park visitors' center is a good introduction to the area, but is only open to families.