# Mleiha, Sharjah > Mleiha is Sharjah's desert heritage area: a small archaeology museum built around a Bronze Age tomb, a fenced national park with red dunes, and Fossil Rock. Entry is about AED 25, children AED 15 (unofficial). It opens daily from 9:00. Allow an hour for the museum, half a day including the drive. Web page: https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/mleiha - City: [Sharjah](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah), United Arab Emirates - YesGo score: 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 3 h - Entry: AED 25, kids AED 15 - With kids: Fine with kids - Centre entry: AED 25, children AED 15 (unofficial) - Kids: Sources disagree on the free age: under 3, 4 or 5 - Hours: Sun–Wed 9:00–19:00, Thu–Sat 9:00–21:00 - National park: Organised trips only, booked through the centre; driving in on your own means a fine - Tours and stargazing: Paid separately, book ahead - Getting there: Car, taxi or the centre's transfer: 60–65 km, about an hour from Sharjah - Phone: +971 6 802 1111 - Time needed: An hour for the museum, half a day with the drive and a desert trip - Coordinates: 25.12637, 55.85755 - Facts checked: 03.11.2026 ## Key facts - **UNESCO** — the Faya Palaeolandscape next to the centre became a World Heritage Site in July 2025 — the UAE's second (source: Khaleej Times; English Wikipedia) - **200,000+ years** — of human presence recorded around Faya (source: Khaleej Times; Gulf News) - **Umm an-Nar tomb** — a circular Bronze Age tomb from the 3rd millennium BC, with the centre built around it (source: Gulf News; Sharjah Update; English Wikipedia) - **January 2016** — the centre was opened by Sharjah's ruler, Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi (source: Sharjah Update; English Wikipedia) - **Shurooq** — the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority built the centre and runs the park (source: Gulf News; English Wikipedia) - **34 km²** — area of the fenced Mleiha National Park (source: Gulf News) - **Marine fossils** — shells and corals on Fossil Rock, left from when this was a shallow sea (source: Gulf News) - **Abi'el** — coins bearing this name in Aramaic have been found at Mleiha and Ed-Dur (source: English Wikipedia; Gulf News (coins)) - **c. 300 BC** — date of Mleiha Fort, possibly the seat of an ancient kingdom (source: English Wikipedia) > **Don't drive into the desert on your own** Mleiha National Park is fenced, and access is limited to organised activities run by the archaeological centre. Shurooq warned in January 2026 that unauthorised entry by any vehicle brings fines and legal action. Stay on the tarmac and book any trip to the rocks and dunes through the centre. ## What is Mleiha? Mleiha is a village and a stretch of desert in inland Sharjah, between the coast and the Hajar Mountains. For visitors it means three things: the **Mleiha Archaeological Centre** and its museum, the **national park** with red dunes and limestone outcrops, and evening stargazing far from city lights. The centre sits right below Fossil Rock, surrounded by excavation sites. Opened in January 2016, the centre is built around a circular **Umm an-Nar tomb** from the Bronze Age, around the 3rd millennium BC. Inside you'll find what decades of digging at Mleiha, Faya and nearby sites turned up: stone tools, jewellery, bronze objects and coins. Right next door is the **Faya Palaeolandscape**, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2025 — the UAE's second site after Al Ain, and the first desert Palaeolithic site on the list. People were here more than 200,000 years ago. ## How much are Mleiha Archaeological Centre tickets? Museum entry is about **AED 25** for adults and **AED 15** for children. Treat that as unofficial: we couldn't load the official site, though Gulf News and Property Finder give the same figures. Sources disagree on when children go free — under 3, 4 or 5 — so ask at the desk. Everything beyond the museum costs extra: SUV or buggy trips to the rocks, guided hikes, horse riding and stargazing. Unofficial price lists put these from around AED 95 to a few hundred dirhams per person, and self-drive buggies at over a thousand per vehicle. Prices change by season, so check when you book. Cards work almost everywhere in the UAE, and you can book activities online through Platinumlist or at the centre itself. Keep some cash dirhams for taxis, since not every cab has a card reader. ## Mleiha opening hours According to recent guides, the centre opens **daily from 9:00**, closing at 19:00 Sunday to Wednesday and at 21:00 Thursday to Saturday. The café keeps shorter hours. Wikipedia still lists an older schedule with a Thursday–Friday weekend, and Platinumlist shows split hours with a midday break — so call ahead on +971 6 802 1111. Desert trips run by day, usually until sunset; stargazing starts around 19:00. Come between November and March. In summer the desert tops 40°C in the afternoon, and outdoor activities are hard going. ## Things to do in Mleiha - **The Umm an-Nar tomb** — a circular stone Bronze Age tomb inside the centre — the building was designed around it. - **The museum hall** — finds from Mleiha and Faya: Palaeolithic stone tools, bronze objects, jewellery, coins and excavation maps. - **Fossil Rock** — the limestone outcrop above the centre, scattered with fossil shells and corals from an ancient sea. - **Camel Rock** — a camel-shaped monolith out in the dunes, reached by SUV or buggy with a guide. - **The Faya caves** — excavation sites in the UNESCO-listed palaeolandscape, visited on the centre's guided tours. - **The red dunes** of the national park, with the Hajar foothills behind — best just before sunset. - **Stargazing** — guided telescope sessions in the evening, well away from coastal light pollution. ## Can you visit Fossil Rock on your own? In short, don't try. Since 2024 Mleiha National Park has been fenced, and Shurooq says access is only through organised activities supervised by the centre. We couldn't find an official map confirming whether Fossil Rock and Camel Rock lie inside the boundary, but trips to both are sold as centre activities. Off-roaders used to drive out to Fossil Rock by themselves. Now you risk a fine as well as getting stuck in soft sand. If you've rented a car, leave it at the centre and switch to a guided vehicle. Buggy formats vary by seller — some let you drive, others are guide-driven only. ## How to get to Mleiha 1. From the Al Hisn Fort area in old Sharjah, Mleiha is 60–65 km by road — about an hour's drive. We found no bus a visitor could realistically use, so plan on a car, a taxi or the centre's transfer. 2. By car, head east on the Sharjah–Kalba road (**E102**). After 20–30 minutes you pass [Sharjah Mosque](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/sharjah-mosque) at the Emirates Road junction — an easy stop on the way. 3. Stay on E102 to the **E55** (Al Dhaid–Maleha Road) exit by the Mleiha mosque; the centre is about two minutes from the exit. Navigate to “Mleiha Archaeological Centre” — the road is empty and poorly lit after dark. 4. By taxi, take a metered cab from central Sharjah or book one in an app. There are no taxis to flag down in the desert, so arrange your return with the driver or pre-book it. 5. The centre runs paid transfers from Sharjah and Dubai — call +971 6 802 1111 for the price when you book an activity. 6. From Dubai the drive is also roughly an hour, but allow extra time for rush-hour traffic leaving the city. ## Stargazing and evenings in the desert Mleiha is one of the few places within an hour of Sharjah and Dubai where the night sky is properly dark. The centre runs guided telescope sessions of about an hour, with hot drinks. Cloud or dust haze can spoil it, so check the forecast. In the cooler season there's also glamping nearby, so you can sleep in a tent and head to the rocks in the morning. For a day trip, the best rhythm is to arrive around 15:00, see the museum, go out to the dunes for sunset and stay on for the stars. ## Before you go Tick off what's ready — your ticks are saved in this browser. - [ ] Called the centre to confirm today's hours and prices - [ ] Booked a desert trip or stargazing session - [ ] Sorted out how to get back to the city - [ ] Water, a hat and sunscreen - [ ] Closed shoes for sand and rock - [ ] A warm layer for the evening - [ ] Cash dirhams for the taxi ## Is Mleiha worth visiting? Yes, if you want to see a side of the UAE that isn't towers and malls: empty desert, deep history and real stars. The museum is small, but the tomb inside the building and the Faya finds are memorable, and a sunset drive out to the rocks is the highlight. No, if you only have one day in Sharjah and no car: the round trip eats two hours, and the museum itself takes about one. Stay in town instead and spend the time at the [Museum of Islamic Civilization](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/museum-of-islamic-civilization) and [Al Hisn Fort](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/sharjah-fort). With small children, wait for the cooler months. ## Sharjah's historic sights compared Every historic place in Sharjah rated by YesGo. - [Blue Souk (Central Souq)](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/blue-souk) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry - [Sharjah Fort (Al Hisn)](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/sharjah-fort) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · AED 10 · 5-museum ticket AED 20 - [Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/museum-of-islamic-civilization) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · AED 10, children 2–12 AED 5 - [Mleiha](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/mleiha) — YesGo score 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · AED 25, kids AED 15 ## Desert by day, city by night The mosque on the way out, Mleiha in the afternoon, Al Qasba in the evening. 1. [Sharjah Mosque](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/sharjah-mosque) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free 2. [Mleiha](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/mleiha) — YesGo score 19/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · AED 25, kids AED 15 3. [Al Qasba](https://yesgo.io/united-arab-emirates/sharjah/al-qasba) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free; boats from AED 20 ## Not to be confused with Mleiha the desert village is not Maliha Road inside Sharjah city — bus stops with that name have nothing to do with the centre. The Sharjah Archaeology Museum in town is a different place too. You'll also see the spellings Maleha and Mleha. ## Tips - Arrive around 15:00: museum first, dunes at sunset, stars after dark. - Stop at Sharjah Mosque on the way — it's on the same road out of town. - Book desert trips ahead: they run to a fixed schedule. - Never drive off the tarmac yourself — unauthorised entry to the national park is fined. - Bring a warm layer: the desert cools down fast after sunset. - Agree your return with the taxi driver — there are no cabs waiting at Mleiha. - In summer, choose evening activities only. ## Questions ### Where is Mleiha? In inland Sharjah, 60–65 km by road from the city centre on the E102 — about an hour's drive. ### How do I get to Mleiha from Dubai? By car, taxi or the centre's paid transfer — about an hour without traffic. There's no practical bus. ### How much is entry to Mleiha Archaeological Centre? About AED 25 for adults and AED 15 for children (unofficial). Desert trips and stargazing cost extra. ### What are Mleiha's opening hours? Daily from 9:00, until 19:00 Sunday to Wednesday and 21:00 Thursday to Saturday (unofficial — call ahead). ### Can I drive to Fossil Rock myself? Better not: the national park is fenced and open only to organised trips booked through the centre. Unauthorised entry is fined. ### Is Mleiha worth visiting? Yes for desert, archaeology and stars; not if you have one day in Sharjah and no car. ### How long do you need at Mleiha? An hour for the museum, half a day including the drive and a sunset trip. ### Can you go stargazing at Mleiha? Yes — the centre runs guided telescope sessions in the evening, about an hour long. ### Is Mleiha a UNESCO site? The neighbouring Faya Palaeolandscape is: it was inscribed in July 2025. The centre tells its story. ### When is the best time to visit Mleiha? November to March, in the afternoon, so you catch sunset and the night sky. ## How we checked Neither the centre's official website nor Shurooq's would load from our server, and we didn't try to get around that — so prices and hours come from Gulf News, Property Finder and Platinumlist and are marked “verifying”. Hours differ: guides say Sun–Wed until 19:00 and Thu–Sat until 21:00, Wikipedia gives an old schedule with a Thu–Fri weekend, and Platinumlist shows split hours. The free age for children also varies (under 3, 4 or 5). We give the tomb's date as a millennium, since sources say both around 2300 BC and “4,500 years old”. Gulf News puts Mleiha 65 km from Sharjah and the straight-line distance on the map is about 55 km, so we give 60–65 km by road. Whether Fossil Rock and Camel Rock lie inside the park boundary is not officially confirmed. We found no report of Mleiha closing in 2026, and activities are on sale for the current season. ## Sources - Gulf News, 24.01.2026 — organised-only access to Mleiha National Park, fines - Gulf News, 2024 — park area, directions (E102, E55), centre transfer, phone number - Gulf News, 2021 — entry prices, Umm an-Nar tomb, Fossil Rock and Camel Rock (unofficial) - Gulf News, 15.12.2025 — Faya Palaeolandscape: area, age, caves, tours via the centre - Khaleej Times, 11.07.2025 — Faya's UNESCO inscription - Property Finder, 06.02.2025 — prices, hours, activities and phone number (unofficial) - Platinumlist — museum, stargazing and horse-riding tickets (unofficial) - PR Newswire, 17.12.2025 — new glamping and stargazing season - Sharjah Update, 27.01.2016 — opening of the centre, tomb, rock tours - English Wikipedia: Mleiha Archaeological Centre, Mleiha; Wikidata Q24964896 --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.