Baobab Grove

Dhofar


Botanists may be surprised to find a small stand of baobab trees gracing the thickets just above the Salalah Plain. These magnificent giants, their trunks sometimes ringed with snails, stand head and shoulders over the more typical Dhofari vegetation and are the only such trees on the Arabian Peninsula. They can be spotted in a tree-filled wadi off the Tawi Atayr–Mirbat road (currently under repair), and there's a viewpoint marking the spot.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Dhofar attractions

1. Tawi Atayr

5.16 MILES

This deep sinkhole (1 million cu metres), known as the Well of Birds, gapes without warning in a corrugated landscape of rock, covered in thicket. A small…

2. Bin Ali's Tomb

6.49 MILES

Housing the remains of Mohammed Bin Ali, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, this tiny tomb, with its two distinctive onion domes, marks the old…

3. Taiq Cave

6.93 MILES

Identified in 1997, this 90 million cu metre–sinkhole is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Elliptical in shape, it has a depth of 250m and is…

4. Mirbat Castle

6.97 MILES

The town’s main fort is now derelict despite being the site of the well-documented Battle of Mirbat. Nine soldiers kept 300 insurgents from taking Mirbat…

5. Merchant Houses

7.01 MILES

Of passing interest in the town of Mirbat is the old quarter, where some merchant houses still stand proud along the beach front. Some are still lived in,…

6. Jebel Samhan Viewpoint

7.12 MILES

The upper plateau of Jebel Samhan suddenly ends in a vertiginous drop more than 1000 meters to the coastal plain below. Barely a ledge interrupts the…

7. Mirbat Fort

7.21 MILES

Recently restored, this old crenellated castle is set square to the sea as if designed to repel invaders. It's closed to the public but makes a photogenic…

8. Wadi Darbat

10.86 MILES

A popular picnic site during the khareef and a great place to enjoy the jebel in any season, Wadi Darbat is a grassy plateau in the hills marked by Oman's…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "oman/jebel-samhan/attractions/baobab-grove/a/poi-sig/1609709/1331812",
      "destination": "Dhofar",
      "continent": "Middle-East",
      "country": "Oman",
      "region": "Dhofar",
      "position": "superzone"
    }