Trekking and walking in the Atlas mountains

Trekking is one of the very best things Morocco has to offer In the high atlas, the country boasts one of the most rewarding mountain ranges in the world. if you are used to the Pyrenees or Alps , here you will feel you are moving a country or so back in time.
Welcome to shorter treks round the Jebel Toubkal area (Best in spring or autumn),or Jebel Sirwa,Western high atlas, or in winter the Jebel Saghro and Tafraoute region of the anti_atlas .

High Atlas / Morocco
***************
The High Atlas is the biggest mountain range in North Africa. The High Atlas offers extremely impressive mountain biking, hiking trails and mountain photography. high peaks force the clouds to give high quantities of rainfall; therefore the High Atlas has many fertile valleys surrounded by rivers and waterfalls. Its a breathtaking sight that cannot be missed!

walking possibilities are endless :
------------------------------
from one day walk to a month trekking along the atlas mountains:
TOUBKAL REGION OTHER AREAS
------------------------------
TOUBKAL VALLEY HIKE 2Days/1Night
MGOUN SUMMIT 4068m 8DAYS/7NIGHTS

TOUBKAL SUMMIT CLIMB 2DAYS/1Night
A stroll around the high atlas "happy valley" 6days/5nights
A STROLL IN THE HIGHT ATLAS VALLEYS 3 DAYS / 2 NIGHTS Mgoun Traverse :
Ait Bougmmaz Kelaa Mgouna 6days/5nights

A WALK IN THE WESTERN OURIKA VALLEYS 3Days/2Nght
Roses Valley 4 to 8 days
HIGH ATLAS HIKE BELOW 2500m 4days/3 nights Dades and Todghra Gorges

TOUBKAL MASSIF VALLEYS AND BERBER VILLAGES 5 DAYS / 4 NIGHTS Jbel Sirwa
(southern High Atlas)

THE OUKAIMEDEN PLATEAU AND TOUBKAL MASSIF 6 DYAS / 5 NIGHTS Jebel Saghro,
the 'Dry Mountain
Jbel TOUBKAL, OURIKA VALLEY, LAKE IFNI 8Days/7Nights
Desert Adventures

ON THE ROOF OF MOROCCO 11 DAYS / 10 NIGHTS
Desert circuit in 4WD with trekking

want private designed trip please ask :

toubkaltour@yahoo.fr

TOUBKAL VALLEY HIKE 2 DAYS/1 Night
*******************************
Village of imlil : 2days/night :
day1 : imlil – tizi n'tamaterte – wanskra :after breakfast we set out today towards the east ; up winding mule tracks to the tizi n' tamaterte (2279m) to enjoy the amazing panorama of the surrounding atlas mountain range peaks and valleys on our way to our picnic spot on the tizi n'tamaterte , overlooking jbel oukaimeden and the beautiful encircled plateau. After lunch set of following the path down to imnane valley intill our gite d'etape in wanskra village . 5 to 6 hours walking.
day 2: wanskra – ikkis – tizi n'aguersiwal – aguersiwal – imlil : after breakfast , we set off down the assif imnane valley , passing throught several berber hamlets and thence up to the tizi n'ageursiwal (2000m).once through the col we shall now go down more winding mule tracks leading to the village of aguersiwal (lunch spot ) set off in river bed of imlil , allow another hour to get up the valley to imlil . 6 hours walking.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOUBKAL SUMMIT CLIMB : 2 DAYS/ 1 NIGHT

day 1: imlil -sidi chamharouch - toubkal refuge. :departure of the hike from little Berber touwn , know as Morocco's litte chamonix set in the upper level foothills of the western high atlas mountains, a main trailhead with mule paths branching out in all directions .towards the south up the berber villges of around , taourirt , achaynup and down the stark slopes, the magnifificent western high atlas peaks of the toubkal massif immediately before us. We shall stop at around to visit this rather singular village in the imlil valley, built seemingly house upon house on large moraine spur , overlooking ancient irrigated terraced fields of fruit trees and vegetables.we thence carry on for a further 8 km .to the equally-quaint village (shrine ) of sidi chamharouch, a berber village set beside a waterfall and small stream, again with the its pisé homes seemingly built somewhat chaotically one into another. This village is a place of pilgrimage for the devout Moslems and it is where
there is a marabout shrine-forbidden to non moslems and said to be a relic of pre-islamic religious cult. We take a break for a picnic, within full view of jbel toubkal , at 4165m the highest peakin north africa , prior to setting off up to the toubkal refuge for our dinner , bivouac or overnight accommodation in the refuge(3207m). (5 hours ).
day2 : toubkal refuge- summit – all way back to imlil: out at around 5 /6in the morning to attain, after 3 hour steep climb, the highest peak in the maghreb.the panorama from the summit is simply stunning.this remarkable climb and view is really worth the effort . whenever you are ready , we shall descent via the ihibi sud- or south circuit- for a straightforward 2to 3 hours descent back to the refuge and our picnic . this afternoon we shall take the way down hill back to imlil ( allow 3 and half hours ) 8 hours in total.

MGOUN SUMMIT 4068m 8DAYS/7NIGHTS
*******************************
Located in the Central High Atlas, the Aït Bouguemez and M'Goun valleys, right in the middle of the highest ranges of the massif, are undoubtedly the most beautiful and spectacular ones of the High Atlas. This trek leads from the Aït Bouguemez valley down to the M'Goun valley and gorges through an endless variety of sites. This is for sure one of the most beautiful treks offered by the Moroccan mountains !

Mgoun summit 4068m:

day 1: Marrkech – azilal – ait bougmmaz – agouti : departure from you hotel in the morning for a realy plesant drive towards the east , through parts of an extensive palmeraie ,then between the rocky , sparly-populated foothills of the western high atlas mountains and the more verdante middle atlas range to the crenellated pisé-walled market town of damenate , with its kasbah and ancient mellah –or jewich quarter-and massed olives groves .from here we follow the winding road up past a scallered hill-top collection of agadirs set amidst the almonds treees and irrigted fields of ait taglla , where we retur up to the verdant natrul site of the renouwed cascades d'ousoud it has taken us some 3hours to get here ad we alight from our vechicle to strech our limbs for a walk down through stands of olive and fig trees to the waterfall and small lake .the falls consisit of several streams that crach 100m into a pool, causing a shifting rainbow and ,with any luck, we will get to see
troups of barbary ape on the lakeshore before we climb up back to the top to rejoin our vechicle an hour later to continue our drive to the middle atlas village of azilal(1360m), where we will stop for our picnic .we now turn to the south through the tizi n'aghbar into the one of the most beautiful and unspoiltof all the berber valleys in morocco-the hidden , isolated valley of ait bougmmaz “the happy valley” stark mountain slopes have given way to terraced irrigated fields of bartey , potatoand corn,shaded pastures watered by mountain streams , orchards of apple,peach and cherry , all overlooked by interlinked pisé hamlets of berber people .arriving at the village of ait mahammed we now approach to the jbel azurki (3690m)to turn , ait abbés .towards the south-west down to the village of agouti(1800m) where we shall stay for the night in berber home family , or camp .
day 2: agouti –abachkou – r'goult : today we strike out after breakfast on our 6 hours hike towards the south down along a oued in beautiful ait bougmmaz valley between fields of barley , wheat and potato,through stands of apple , peach and walnut trees to reach the hamlet of abachkou in the aguersif valley after some 4 hours hiking . here we shall stop for our field picnic amongst the nut trees .refreshed , we continue on south up mule ttrails for a couple of hours grouwths of fig , walnut and almonds trees , teracced fields of wheat and barley outcrops of rock and sunblasted boulders , wild fig and prickly pear to set up camp on the outskirts of hamlet of R'goult (2100m).
day3 : R'goult – tizi n'R'goutl 2860m – tasggaiwelt : after breakfast we strike for 3 hours , passing through the village of R'goult and fields of wheat , barley, and corn to traverse the col , giving us a splendid vista of forests and mountains to descent down for 2 more hours to our bivvy site at the village of tassgaiwelt(2500m), where shall picnic , set up camp for the night and stroll around the village to meet the hady berber inahabitants carrying out their daily activities and certainly, to visit for about 30 minutes.
day 4: tasggaiwelt – tassaoute gorges- targdidte plateau : we set out today for another 6 hours , now down into the tassaoute gorges to awade long the river bed for 30 minutes untill we reach a narrow couloir . from here we ned to be roped together , not a difficult passage but requiring some teamwork , as we set ascend for 2 hours intill tizi n'assderm then down to targdite plateau 2900m the grazing lands of the great warriors of the south –the semi nomad , fiercely indepenent ait atta tribe , whose black tents dot the countryside- , our picnic close to an old mountain hut , then set off the camp.
day5 : targdite plateau – mgoun summit 4068m – oulilimte : up today at the crack of dawn for 4 and half hours hike up across hillocks and boulder-strewn terrain to the Mgoun summit and a pause for about 1 hour for our picnic.the Mgoun massif is the largest area of land above 3000m, yet is has no really soaring peaks.even though it boasts of one of the greatest summits in the entire maghreb, actual ascent to the highest point at 4068m is not really difficult as your mountain guide helps you to avoid the worst of the scree.an obscure, pre-islamic tribal cult had made this summit a sacred place, and the tradition continues to this day amongst the ait immi peoples .the vista up here is amazing , giving us sight of the southern Mgoun chain and , on a clear day,to the south , the kasbah village of skoura , the jbel sargho, the valley of the roses and jbel toubakal.once refreshed , we set carefully off down some sree to rejoin a mule trail which leads us to the tizi n' amsoud and
the gorges of oulilimte, where we shall stop by a spring to set up camp (2600m)and enjoy the night after some 8to 9 hours hiking.
day 6: oulilimte – tighermt n'ait ahmed :an easy 5 hours hike awaits us today as we set out up through these impressive gorges . for about 15 m , we shall need to be roped together as we clamber up the sides , but there's nothing to fear , it's relatively easy. For those who don't wish to take this path , the can follow the winding track up behind the mules to the top. We strike out across sunblasted plains, passing by an ancient,and now uninhabited, once-jewish village to picnicen route and thence on towards the beginning of the Mgoun valley to set up camp at beautiful campsite of thighermte n'ait ahmed (2100m).
day 7: tighermte n'ait ahmed – tizi n'ait imi – tabant : an early breakfast , camp struck and mules loaded we're now off on a further 7 hours hike up through the pass of tizi n'ait imi 2860m which straddles the Mgoun and ait bougmmaz valleys ,caused by the jurassic rifting of the sahara and moroccan mesetas , to hike downhill to our picnic set by spring at ait imi village . we then on down the natural fault line through fields of barley and grazing fields untill we reach the berber village of tabant ( night in campor Gite ).
day8 : back to marrakech via azilal.

Trekking in Jbel sarghro: volcanic massif
*******************************
Trek 6 days / 5nights :
****************
day1 : marrakech –ourzazate – qualaa Mgouna –dades valley- ait youl :departure at around 8 o'clock from marrakech southeast across the haouz plain for an exhilarating drive up the twisting bends of the road over the western high atlas of gloua country, passing through the berber villages of ait barqa and taddarte , up through the spectacular tizi n'tichka (2260m)-and hold on to your hats ,for the winding roads takes us through the highest mountain pass in Morocco – then gently down alongside the assif imini , through the “beau geste” city of ourzazate (this translate into english as “where no nose is heard” ) to stop for a picnic lunch in a small restaurant just outside of the city . we now set off towards the east towards(qulaa ) EL Kelaa des Mgouna –“the village of the rose” in english –and the beautiful , harsh and dramatic gorge of Dades valley . on our way through this magnificent valley , the valley of the roses , throughlands once trodden by alexander the great and his
invading armies , we travel along what is a vast food plain whose southern horizon is blocked by the sun –blasted anti atlas mountains and to the north by the jagged high atlas mountain ranges . on the edges of the verdant palmeraie of skoura , one-time capital of moulay Essmail the nearby river reflecting the intense blue of the sky, the brilliant green of the palmeraies and the red earth , we shall stop to photograph one of the two magnificent kasbahs of singular beauty _Amerdil- surrounded by rose bushes (and whose image is found printed on the current 50 dirham bank note ). Continuing along further east we cpme face to face with imposing set kasbahs blending harmoniously with the environment , yet all in various stages of ruin. All shouting out their last defiant cries against the eroding desert winds. 20kms further on we enter the valley full of rose bush plantations and palmeraies, magnificent berber villages and more kasbahs, the jbel sarghro (2332m)-the last
high rocky barrier before the moroccan hamada- to our right, jbel Mgoun (4068m)- the second highest peak in the maghreb to our left- until we reach the large village of EL Kelaa Mgouna (1433m), where the roses are grown to be sold and their essences distilled to make the rose water so favoured by berber people . from here we carry on to the berber village of ait haddou n'ait youl where , after a total of 6 hours driving, we shall spend the night in a gite d'etape and dine midst the bare brown and purple surrounds of the kasbah n'ait youl , the gaunt broken black-red volcanic peaks and limestone pinnacles of jbel sarghro before us .
day 2: ait haddou n'ait youl – ano n'igdad – ano n'elmersse. We set out this morning with our mule team on our 6 hours hike across the arid plain, dotted with the occasional isolated almond tree and, with luck, some small herds of Edmi gazelle or addax antelope, until we arrive at a small field of ano n'igdad “ano in berber means well” ) where we shall stop for our picnic in a region known for its sandgrouse , desert lark, eagle owl, courser and falcon. This afternoon we hike on by the oued and up the sand-blasted tizi n'Elmersse plateau and our dinner and campsite by the well and little palmeraie at ano n'Elmersse.
day 3: Ano N'elmersse – assaka n'ait oussine –tajalazt .breakfast tucked away and camp struck we set off on today's 6hours hike up the stony and wild slopes to traverse the tizi n'tagmout (1624m) and carry on down past the copper mines at tagmout to the tagmout plateau and the berber hamlet of assaka n'ait oussine . here we shall stop for our picnic on the riverbank amidst corn and barley fields,fig and almond trees . this afternoon , we strike out up along the dry river bed between glass-like rocks and boulders, on through the remote hamlets of akerkour , berqiq and then of tiqniza, through pastureland and occasional rock hut of the nomadic shepherds and up to the village of tazalazt (1332m) for our dinner and overnight bivouac.
day4 : tazalazt –tizi ighzoun –tizi tagourt – igli .today's hike is of some 7hours so, after a leisurely breakfast we shall trek along the dry river bed to pass near maghbout moulay houssine and up the tassghdette n'ssi el haj plateau to the isolated hamlet of tidoussine . from here we strike out towards talat n'ourioul and up through the tizi ighzoun (1930m),down to the remote hamlet of ighzoun (1420m) to picnic on the river bank. From here we hike upthe assif n'anoums to traverse tizi tagourt (1580m) and continue across the plateau alongside afourar range and the isk, n'ifssan hills to meet up with a strange eroded rock formation in the shape of camel's head. From here we set out down to the tilled fields of the hamlet of igli, wher we shall set camp near the well of the little palmeraie and almond trees belonging to the fiercely-independent , semi nomadic ait atta berber tribe to dine amidst clumps of broom, gorse and thyme, goatskin tents and awesome silence .
day5 : igli - tizi n'ouarg - jbel sarghro summit – imi n'ouarg. Our 5hours today start after breakfast up for an hour and half through rocky promontories, each with their individual name – tamzgalt , tissigdeltye, ouintirhane and isk n'eferdz- to continue across an almost that stretch of pampas for further 90 minutes and traverse the tizi n'ouarg (2300m) to picnic near a spring of the assif n'ouarg on the kouaoutch plateau. From here we strike out on an easy hike through century junipers , acacia, rosemary and esparto grass to the what is now accepted as the summit of jbel sarghro (2592m) which rises starkly from the plateau of several peaks. The lunar landscape, eroded pinnacles, sheer cliffs, dramatic canyons and splintered limestone rock towers lead our eyes across the sun-blasted volcanic tableland and entire massif to the distant western high atlas peaks of the jbel toubkal (4167m) and her closer and slightly-smaller sister, ighill mgoun (4068m). Some of these rock
towers have been names, suchas isk n'ifsane ( the tiara of the pond ) isk n'alla ( my sister's head dress), isk n'elferdj ( the horns of plenty ). We shall now strike down to the feet of adrar n' kouaoutch ( the local name of the jbel sarghro), with its sheer cliffs and basalt rock needles to meet up again with our mule team and hike on for some 45 minutes to our camsite and dinner for the night at oued of imi n'ouarg, possibly with the tents of the berber nomads nearby.
day6 : imi n'ouarg – tizi n' emghrane – imi n'terhsa – tagdilt .our 6hours trek starts after breakfast up through the tizi n' bou ichlif (1980m), then tizi n'emghrane (2004m), down through stands of juniper trees and rocky oued . we like towards the north-east along this oued .past the black felt tents of nomadic herders and goat skin tents of the fodder-gatherers to picnic near a spring at imi n'terhsa. This afternoon we shall strike out towards the east along the dry river bed to eventually region a faint piste which leads us to the village of tagdilt (1600m), our dinner and overnight in gite d'etape
day 7: tagdilt –boumalene du dades- ourzazate –tadderte –marrakech . after breakfast we join our vehicle for our long drive up north to boumalne du dades , west along the hairpin bends of dades valley, through ourzazate and over the tizi n'tichka to make a stop at tadderte for our picnic luch amidst the surrounding peaks and valleys, prior to continuing on down to the haouz plain, to arrive at marrakech late in the evening..