Source: YNET
The Israel National Trail (INT), the 1,100 km trail that crosses the entire country from north to south, recently became the first such trail to be uploaded to Google's Street View service, in honor of Tu Bishvat (the Jewish New Year of trees).
The path was filmed for three months by 250 staff members of Israel's Society for the Protection of Nature (SPNI) and Google, and is now accessible to anyone in the the world using Google Maps. The INT was recorded by Google Street View using two Trekker cameras, which younger members of the SPNI carried on their backs. The INT was selected as one of the 20 best trails in the world by National Geographic Magazine.
The Israel Trail inaugurated by the SPNI in 1995 in order to create a hiking trail across the entire country,includes a wide variety of natural terrain, ecology and historical sites, weaving its way through the Galilee, the Carmel mountains, the Mediterranean coastline, Tel Aviv, Rosh Ha’ayin, Elad, the Modi’in region, the Judean lowlands, archeological sites at Beit Guvrin, the Negev Desert and the mountains surrounding Eilat.
Google launched its much broader Street View project in 2007, to enable web surfers to explore neighborhoods and see panoramic street-level images around the world. While the project started with cameras fastened to pickup trucks, lasers and GPS tools, the technology eventually expanded to incorporate specially designed devices that can capture 360 degrees of images and withstand varying conditions, according to Google.
Today, in addition to the Street View Car, some of the equipment includes snowmobiles, tricycles, trolleys and the Street View Trekker backpack used by the Israel Trail hikers.
Read more at YNET News.