Seraïdi: the village on the ridge

Almost every visit to the Edough goes through Seraïdi, the small town perched at about 860 m on the crest, thirteen kilometres or so above Annaba. Founded by French decree in 1847 as Bugeaud and renamed at independence in 1962, it kept the layout of a hill resort: a long main street along the wind edge, a terrace overlooking the plain, faded 19th-century buildings, and a quiet that feels improbable so close to a city of half a million. The Roman presence is still legible in the countryside around it—the spring that fed the aqueduct supplying the cisterns of Hippo Regius rises near here, and ruined arcade sections remain in the woods. Local tradition also attaches the area's most dramatic story to a nearby peak: Kef Sbaâ, "the lion's rock", was the last range of the Barbary lion, and the last lion of Algeria was shot on the Edough in 1890.↗↗

Walking the forest

Past Seraïdi the paved road gives way to forest tracks that follow the spine of the massif, climbing toward the higher ground around Bou Zizi or dropping north through the trees toward the small coves and headlands around Chetaibi. There are no numbered trails and few signposts; navigation is by local knowledge, and the most rewarding half-day is simply to walk whichever forest lane the villagers are currently recommending, then sit for the view as the weather rolls up from the gulf and clears the air. Look at the streams and you may spot the Edough ribbed newt, a globally threatened species named for this massif, and the vulnerable North African fire salamander still holds out in the wetter hollows.

The mood of the forest changes with the season. In spring the cork-oak canopies filter a green-gold light over thickets of ferns; in summer the temperature on the ridge can be ten degrees cooler than on the coast, which is the whole reason Annaba families drive up on hot weekends; and in winter fog, rain and even snow turn the tracks into running streams, the chestnuts bare, the heath blooming along the clearer margins.↗↗

Planning a visit

The standard approach is from Annaba, either in your own car or with a taxi that will wait at Seraïdi; the road is steep and full of blind hairpins and the surface is shared with weekend traffic, so allow an unhurried morning up and a leisurely afternoon down. From Seraïdi, half a day is enough for a walk and a view; an overnight stay is possible but facilities are simple and dated, and the town's hotels reflect their colonial-era origins more than their current upkeep. Entry to the forest is free.↗

A word of caution

This is working hill country, not a developed park. The cork-oak forest is highly vulnerable to fire and parts of the massif have been burned in recent decades, so the rules on smoking, stoves and open fires are real ones, not formalities. Tracks are unmarked and can be genuinely hard to relocate once the fog rolls in, and the northern slopes drop steeply to the coast. Walking on the upper slopes with a local companion—or asking in Seraïdi before setting off—is the sensible practice, particularly alone or after rain. In short: come curious, come with water and a windproof jacket, and leave the mountain map expectations in the city.