The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of land use on unsaturated water infiltration, near-saturated soil hydraulic properties, water repellency, and saturated and unsaturated shear strength by deriving cause-effect relations between soil physical, hydraulic and mechanical properties in Tuyserkan region, Hamadan province. Five land use treatments including non-grazed, moderately grazed and severely grazed rangelands, dryland farming and walnut garden were considered. Measurements were done two times, in Aug. 2013 and May 2014, in order to monitor temporal variations of selected soil properties as well. In August 2013, following soil properties were measured in situ : hydraulic properties (i.e. saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, sorptivity and macroscopic capillary length) determined using tension infiltrometer, shear strength measured using shear vane, penetration resistance measured using pocket penetrometer, and runoff and erosion determined using portable rainfall simulator. Moreover, laboratory measurements included following soil properties: water repellency, gravel percent, texture, organic matter, carbohydrate and carbonate contents, soluble calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium and EC and pH of saturated extract, dispersible clay, bulk density and relative bulk density. In May 2014, selected soil properties were determined as follows: hydraulic properties measured using tension infiltrometer, saturated shear strength parameters (i.e. cohesion and angle of internal friction) measured using a field torsional shear device, and bulk density. Soil organic matter was greatest in the non-grazed rangeland and walnut garden, and lowest in the severely grazed rangeland. Trend of soil carbohydrate was similar to that of soil organic matter with the exception that its value in the non-grazed rangeland was greater than in the walnut garden. Variations of bulk density and relative bulk density were similar in different land uses; their values were higher in the dryland farming than in the non-grazed rangeland and walnut garden. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was greater in the non-grazed rangeland when compared to the dryland farming, whereas unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was greatest in the dryland farming presumably due to high proportion of fine- and medium-sized aggregates as produced from tillage. Values of macroscopic capillary length at matric suctions of 5, 10 and 15 cm decreased in the order: walnut garden rangeland treatments dryland farming. However, macroscopic capillary length at matric suctions of 2 cm and its best-fit values were greater in the severely grazed rangeland and decreased in the order: walnut garden dryland farming moderately grazed rangeland non-grazed rangeland. Greatest values of soil sorptivity at all matric suctions were measured in the dryland farming due to low water repellency and high proportion of macropores. Grazing resulted in low soil organic matter and carbohydrate, high soil compaction, high soil pH, low saturated hydraulic conductivity, high unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and macroscopic capillary length, low water sorptivity, low macropores and high micropores, low contribution of macropores to soil water flow, low water repellency, low cohesions at saturationand matric suction of 2 cm , high angle of internal frictionand high dispersible clay, runoff and erosion. Measurement season significantly reduced soil bulk density by changing amount and type of soil organic matter, and drying-wetting and freezing-thawing processes. The extent of these changes decreased with increasing grazing intensity and was the lowest in the dryland farming. Such temporal changes in the walnut garden were similar to those in the non-grazed rangeland. From fall to spring, the saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity at all matric suctions significantly increased, the macroscopic capillary length significantly decreased, numbers of macropores and micropores increased and decreased, respectively, and the contribution of macropores to soil water flow increased. Interaction of measurement time and land use did not significantly affect soil bulk density. The interactive effects were significant on saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, macroscopic capillary length, sorptivity, and number of pores corresponding to matric suctions of 5 and 10 cm; however, the effect was not significant for the mentioned properties at matric suction of 15 cm. Therefore, variations of the properties at matric suction of 15 cm were solely due to land use changes. Overall, the findings indicated that soil physical, hydraulic and mechanical properties were significantly affected by the land use type; intensive grazing in the rangelands has severely diminished soil quality and temporal variations of near-saturated soil hydraulic properties were considerable in the region.