Gan Hashlosha National Park

Gan Hashlosha National Park is one of the most beautiful places in Israel. It is located in the eastern end of the beautiful and green Jezreel Valley. (At this point it might be referred to as the Harrod Valley.) Gan Hashlosha means the garden or park of the three. The name commemorates three early Jewish settlers who were killed by a land mine while looking for a place to establish a kibbutz sometime between 1936 and 1939.

The Arabic name for the site is Sakhne, which means “hot springs.” I recommend a stop here on your next visit to Israel. It is a pleasant place where many tourists enjoy dipping their feet in the warm waters.

Gan Hashalosha National Park in Israel. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

According to Azaria Alon’s, Israel National Parks & Nature Reserves,

The water in Nahal Amal is saline and not fit for drinking.

The place, only a few miles from the Jordan Valley, provides a fitting illustration for a text about the place where John the Baptist was baptizing after he moved from Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized
(John 3:23 ESV)

Do not misunderstand. Once while visiting here I told my group that this was a place not far from Aenon near Salim and provided a good illustration. A little later I overheard one of the ladies telling another who had missed my explanation, “This is where John baptized.” In fact, they both missed the explanation.

Perhaps we will discuss Aenon near Salim in another post.