The Barouk cedar forest is the largest surviving stand of ancient cedar in Lebanon, and the anchor of the Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve — the country's biggest protected area. This guide covers the reserve's three entrances, what there is to see and do inside it, when to go, and what the name "Barouk" itself means.
Known internationally as the Shouf Biosphere Reserve, it is Lebanon's largest nature reserve by a wide margin, taking in roughly a quarter of the country's remaining cedar forest and about 5% of its total land area. It shelters more than 200 bird species and over twenty wild mammal species — among them wolves, gazelles, and wild boar — spread across a mountain range that climbs from the upper Chouf villages to Mount Barouk's 1,943 m summit.
The reserve isn't one continuous forest so much as a chain of cedar groves along the same mountain range, each reached from a different Chouf town. That structure is why the reserve has three separate public entrances rather than one.
The town and its forest take their name from a word whose exact origin is debated. One reading — favored by most researchers — treats Barouk as an ancient Phoenician word meaning "the blessed," a fitting name for a settlement built around an abundant spring. Another connects it to a Syriac verb meaning "to crouch" or "to rest." A folk tradition offers a simpler story: birk al-jamal, the spot where camels knelt to rest as caravans passed through.
Each entrance opens onto its own section of cedar forest, and each sits above a different Chouf town.
The town of Barouk holds the reserve's main public entrance, at about 1,000 m elevation, roughly 46 km and a 40-minute drive from Beirut. It has a ranger station and several waymarked hiking trails, and sits below Mount Barouk's 1,943 m peak and the Nabeh el-Barouk spring the town takes its life from. Barouk is also the birthplace of Rachid Nakhle, the poet who wrote Lebanon's national anthem.
Further south, Maaser el-Chouf sits on the reserve's eastern slope at around 1,174 m. Its cedar grove is among the oldest in the reserve, with the village long serving as a gateway for visitors heading into the protected forest. Together, Barouk and Maaser el-Chouf hold the reserve's largest stands of centuries-old trees.
The third entrance opens above Ain Zhalta, at roughly 1,038 m elevation. The town itself contains a large part of the Barouk cedar forest, and its entrance completes the trio of localities — Barouk, Maaser el-Chouf, and Ain Zhalta–Bmohray — whose forests together make up the reserve.
Inside the reserve, waymarked trails of varying length wind through stands of old-growth cedar, some individual trees thought to be well over a thousand years old, with viewpoints opening out over the Bekaa Valley to the east and toward the coast to the west on a clear day. The forest floor and clearings change with the season — wildflowers in spring, deep green shade in summer, color turning in autumn, and snow settling over the higher stands in winter. Wildlife is present but shy: birdwatchers have the best odds, with the reserve's bird list running past 200 species, while sightings of wolves, gazelles, and wild boar are rarer and mostly reported by rangers and researchers rather than casual visitors.
The reserve rewards a visit in almost any season, each with a different character. Spring brings wildflowers and the clearest trails once the winter snow has melted off the lower paths. Summer keeps the upper Chouf noticeably cooler than the coast, which is part of why villages like Barouk and Ain Zhalta have long drawn people escaping the heat. Autumn turns the forest's color before the cold sets in, and winter can blanket the higher cedar stands in snow, which is part of the reserve's appeal for anyone drawn to seeing the trees in that setting.
Cedars Ground Campsite operates just outside the Barouk cedar forest, within reach of the reserve's main entrance — a straightforward option for anyone who wants to stay overnight in the upper Chouf rather than drive back down the mountain the same day.
Cedrus libani, the Lebanon cedar, is the country's national emblem and sits at the center of its flag — a tree that has stood for the country's identity for generations, referenced in historical and religious texts long before it became a national symbol. That the largest surviving stand grows here, in the Chouf, and that Barouk itself gave Lebanon the poet behind its national anthem, makes this forest more than a hike — it's a place tied directly to how the country sees itself.
Two more upper-Chouf towns round out a visit to this part of the mountain. Mristi, at around 1,246 m, is itself counted among the villages of the Shouf Nature Reserve area, higher up the same range. Further south, Niha pairs a cedar-forest visit with a different kind of landmark: Niha's Castle, a fortress carved into the cliffs during the Crusader period.
Sources disagree. One reading treats it as an ancient Phoenician word meaning "the blessed" — a fitting name for a town built around an abundant spring, and the reading most researchers favor. Another traces it to a Syriac verb meaning "to crouch" or "to rest." A folk tradition instead ties it to birk al-jamal, the camels that knelt to rest here as caravans passed.
It sits above the town of Barouk in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon, at roughly 1,000 m elevation, about 46 km and a 40-minute drive from Beirut. The forest is one part of the wider Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve, which climbs toward Mount Barouk's 1,943 m summit.
Lebanon's largest nature reserve, known internationally as the Shouf Biosphere Reserve. It takes in roughly a quarter of the country's remaining cedar forest and about 5% of its total land area, and shelters more than 200 bird species and over twenty wild mammal species, including wolves, gazelles, and wild boar.
Three, each opening onto a different cedar grove: Barouk, the main public entrance with a ranger station and several waymarked trails; Maaser el-Chouf, on the reserve's eastern slope; and Ain Zhalta–Bmohray, above the town of Ain Zhalta.
The reserve's oldest cedars, concentrated in the Barouk and Maaser el-Chouf groves, are thought to be well over a thousand years old.
Cedars Ground Campsite operates just outside the Barouk cedar forest, within reach of the reserve entrance.
Cedrus libani, the Lebanon cedar, is the country's national emblem and sits at the center of its flag. Barouk itself is the birthplace of Rachid Nakhle, the poet who wrote Lebanon's national anthem — one more thread tying this forest to national identity, not just biology.