White Desert

The White Desert National Park is the most photogenic place in Egypt and, for a particular few hours after sunset, one of the quietest. It is also a genuine desert — no shade, no water, no mobile signal — that happens to be full of extraordinary rock.

The formations are quartz and limestone, carved into spires and "mushrooms" by wind over millions of years. The famous white is calcium carbonate; the darker bands in the rock are the original sediment, and the rust colour you see at sunset is iron oxide, the same stuff that colours the Red Sea.

The park after dark

Day visitors arrive around 10 am and leave by 4 pm. If you are staying overnight — and you should — you will have the park to yourself for the two hours that matter most, when the sun drops behind the ridge and the white rock turns pink, then orange, then a blue-grey you cannot photograph properly.

There is a small settlement at the edge of the protected zone with a basic shelter and a toilet. The camping area itself is a flat stretch of gravel between the formations, which means you can walk out into the formations at night without driving.

Practical notes

• The drive from Bahariya is about 3 hours over a graded track.
• Temperatures drop below freezing in January nights. Bring a proper sleeping bag.
• There is no ATM, no phone signal and no fuel station inside the park. Fill up in Bahariya.
• The best light is forty minutes after sunset, not during it.