Wadi Qada'ah

Wadi Qada'ah Wādī Kidā'ah
Wadi Qada'ah. Tributary of Wadi al Bih. View from the village of Silay Al Khatami
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Native name	وادي قداعة (Arabic)
Location
Country	United Arab Emirates
Emirate	Ras Al Khaimah
Physical characteristics
Source	Northern slope of Jabal Tafif, in the Sultanate of Oman
• elevation	1,268 m (4,160 ft)
Mouth	Wadi al Bih
• coordinates	25°46′56.3″N 56°03′46.4″E
• elevation	92 m (302 ft)
Length	15.3 km (9.5 mi)
Basin size	483 km^2 (186 sq mi)[1]
Basin features
River system	Wadi al Bih

Wadi Qada'ah (Arabic: وادي قداعة, romanized: Wādī Kidā'ah)^[2] is a valley or dry river, with intermittent flow, which flows almost exclusively during the rainy season, located about 10 kilometers east of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. The wadi flows into the Wadi Bih.^[3][4]

Hedgehogs and caracals live in the valley,^[5] and dates have been grown at the higher elevations.^[6]

In the upper reaches of the Wadi Qada'ah is the historic village of Qada'ah, very close to the border between UAE and Oman, and to the north and northeast of the wadi, rises the impressive southern slope of Jabal Qada'ah,^[7] also known as Jabal Al Ahqab,^[8] with an elevation of 1,375 m and a prominence of 460 m, making it one of the highest peaks in the UAE.

In Wadi Qada'ah there are several excellent hiking routes, but also rock climbing and canyoning areas, not suitable for hiking. Accidents involving people who enter areas that are inappropriate for hiking are frequent.^{[4][9][10][11]}

Toponymy

Southern slope of Jabal Qada'ah, also called Jabal Al Ahqab, seen from the village of Qada'ah

Qada'ah. Village located in the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), south of Jabal Qada'ah, on a high plateau overlooking the course of Wadi Qada'ah, very close to the territorial boundary between UAE and Oman

View of Wadi Qada'ah from Qada'ah Village

Alternative Names: Wadi Kida'ah, Wadi Qida'a, Wadi Qada`a, Wadi Qada`ah, Wadi Qadda`a, Wādī Qada'a, Wādī Qada'ah, Wādī Qadda'a, Wadi Quda'ah.

It also appears, with the spelling Wādī Kidā'ah, in the National Atlas of the United Arab Emirates.^[12]

See also

• List of wadis of the United Arab Emirates
• List of mountains in the United Arab Emirates
• List of wadis of Oman
• List of mountains in Oman

References

1. Evaluation of the Effect of the Wadi Bih Dam on Groundwater Recharge, UAE - Mohsen Sherif, Abdel Azim Ebraheem, Ampar Shetty, Ahmed Sefelnasr, Khaled Alghafli & Mohamed Al Asam - Natural Disaster Science and Mitigation Engineering: DPRI reports - 2021
2. "Mindat.org - Wādī Qada'ah |". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
3. "FCO 18/1863 - Map of Trucial States, Muscat and Oman - Rams - Scale 1:100 000 - Published by D Survey, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom (1971) - Edition 3-GSGS - The National Archives, London, England". Arabian Gulf Digital Archives. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
4. "LOWER WADI BIH" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-11-19.
5. "Tribulus" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
6. Lancaster, William; Lancaster, Fidelity (July 2011). Honour is in Contentment: Life Before Oil in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE) and Some Neighbouring Regions. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110223408.
7. "Mindat.org - Jabal Qada'ah |". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
8. "UAE: Police airlift tourist who went missing during mountain hike in RAK |". www.khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
9. "UAE: 2 teenagers rescued after being stranded on mountain |". www.khaleejtimes.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
10. "RAK Police rescue seven hikers lost in Wadi Qada'a |". www.thenationalnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
11. "UAE: Five Asians lost atop RAK mountain rescued|". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
12. Jāmiʻat al-Imārāt al-ʻArabīyah al-Muttaḥidah. Geoprojects (U.K.) Ltd., The National atlas of the United Arab Emirates, Al Ain : United Arab Emirates University - 1993

Media related to Wadi Qada'ah at Wikimedia Commons