Shada Mountain: A unique geological formation with 3000-year-old caves

Saudi Gazette report

AL-BAHA — A trip to the lower Shada Mountain in Al-Baha region is an exciting and enthralling experience for all vacationers, especially mountaineers.

The mountain is famous for its wide granite caves, which were used by inhabitants for their dwellings, thousands of years ago. This was evident in the engraved Thamudic and Sabaean drawings and inscriptions dating back to 3,000 years in the caves of the mountain situated in Al-Makhwah governorate in the Tihama sector of Al-Baha region.

This unique geological formation has become one of the most beautiful tourist attractions in the southern part of the Kingdom and perhaps in the Middle East, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The magnificent granitic rocks have formed over one of the hardest mountains in an area with the largest diversity of flora in the region. Many of these rocks and grottoes were formed in strange and unique shapes and they can be found in the form of some animals, humans, or birds and other strange formations. The caves’ stunning architecture looks like buildings that have been carved out of maintains.

Many of the mountain’s inhabitants at the present time still use these caves as their homes, and some of them have even been developed today to become tourist attractions for visitors from all over the world.

These wonderful vast caves were formed by geological erosion over millions of years, leaving spherical, rectangular or oval-shaped cavities, the sizes of which differ from one rock to another.