Wadi Rayan is a depression to the South-West side of the Lake Qarun in the Fayoum Governorate. It used to be desert but since the 1970s it receives the water overflow from the Lake Qarun, which is a dead end lake and thus the water threatened to flood the agricultural land. Until then, the water inflow could be balanced by evaporation, but as more and more land was reclaimed and as a result, an increase amount of water was brought in from the Nile by Bahr Yusuf, but had to go out again as well and the evaporation could no longer cope. Flooding the land with this water would be disastrous, because its salt content at least equals that of the sea as a result of the ongoing evaporation and only incoming water. To solve the problem, a long tunnel as well as an open channel were built to bridge the 8 kilometer gap in order to transport the water to the next depression, Wadi El Rayan.
The overflow has resulted in two lakes, the upper lake and the lower lake, and since they are on different altitudes (the Northern one is higher than the Southern one) there are a few waterfalls (of maximum 4 meters high) which encourage youngsters to jump off them. At the bottom of the waterfall they can be seen shaking each others hand on the occasion of successfully completing this dangerous operation. Some of the desert land has been target of the Land Reclamation program and given to young graduates, who live there now in a small village in the middle of nowhere trying to make a living.

In 1989, Wadi el Rayan was declared protected area. The plant life is not very diverse here, as it used to be desert 20 years ago, but there are many birds.. more than 170 species, many of them migrating water birds. The Egyptians love to come here and swim and sit in the shade enjoying a drink in one of the cafeterias or their pick-nicks and music. All the time, you are pestered by boys and men hissing "shark teeth" behind your back, trying to advertise these illegally sold million years old pieces almost as an aphrodisiac.

There are many different landscapes around the two lakes. From layered rocks, waved and bent by the uneven pressure of times and the strangely formed pieces in front of it to the grassy area with springs and the sand dunes, where it looks like somebody covered the hills with a golden blanket. The blanket is not stable though, and tries to cover the road whenever it can, making it difficult to drive. The spring area has four springs, and probably long ago they were used by caravans to find water for themselves and their animals on the long desert trips. Here it is said that the rare Dorcas gazelle lives, and probably also some foxes.