Park Eshkol (Eshkol National Park) is the largest park in the northern Negev, covering thousands of dunams of open fields, eucalyptus groves, and seasonal streams near the Gaza border. The park, named after Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, has been a center of recreation and nature for the communities of the Gaza Envelope for decades, and it continues to serve that role despite the challenges the region has faced.
Park
The park contains picnic areas, cycling trails, hiking paths, and the seasonal Besor Stream, which fills with water during the winter rains and attracts migratory birds. The landscape is open and flat, typical of the northern Negev, with fields of wildflowers in spring (anemones, in particular, carpet the fields in red). The park is popular with families from Sderot and the surrounding kibbutzim and moshavim.
Resilience
Park Eshkol sits within rocket range of Gaza, and the park’s shelters are as much a part of its infrastructure as its picnic tables. The decision of local families to continue using the park, to hold barbecues and birthday parties in a place where a siren can sound at any moment, is a statement of defiance and normalcy that defines the character of the Gaza Envelope communities.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
Park Eshkol is where the Gaza Envelope lives its daily life. Hoshen Tours includes it to show the human side of a region that is too often defined only by conflict.