Yarkon National Park The Yarkon National Park is divided into two parts: The Yarkon river source springs and Afek. Together they constitute a green lung and an island of tranquility in the middle of the most populated region in Israel. In the past it was not possible to pass from the southern coastal plain towards the Sharon and northwards due to the marshes that had developed around the river, and the ancient Via Maris that traversed the country lengthwise had to circumvent the marshes from the east, which is why the region was called the "Afek Passage". The route went along a pass between the mountain and the sources of the Yarkon. Already from ancient times this passage was a focus for human settlement, which is evidenced by the remains of a settlement at Tel Afek. The area was settled continuously for 5,000 years, from the beginning of the Bronze Age until the Ottoman period. In the later Roman period (2nd-4th centuries CE), Antipatris was the major city in the region and an important junction in the system of roads built by the Roman rulers in Palestine. Antipatris (and Mirabel at Rosh Ha'Ayin) commanded the Afek Passage, the Yarkon basin and the Southern Sharon. The name "Afek" derives from the Akkadian word "Aphek"/Aphekum", meaning springs, which also appears to be connected to the Hebrew word "Afek" – riverbed, stream. https://www.parks.org.il/en/reserve-park/yarkon-national-park/