Trekking in Morocco
With its four distinct mountain ranges — High Atlas, Middle Atlas, Anti-Atlas, and the Rif — Morocco offers the walker, hiker, and mountaineer an incredible and rewarding variety of scenery, climate, and terrain. Besides Jebel Toubkal and its northern approaches,
Morocco’s mountains see relatively few travellers and can feel practically deserted when compared to those of Europe and North America. Just as rewarding as exploring the mountains themselves is encountering the Berbers who live in the valleys and on the lower slopes. These resilient mountain folk are renowned for their hospitality, and along with their picturesque kasbah villages — often surrounded by steep terraces of crop and fruit and nut trees — never fail to leave an impression.
If you have the time, trekking through the mountains is one of the must-dos in Morocco. The variety of terrain and differing degrees of access offers something for everyone, from walking through aromatic forests to scrambling over granite boulders.
One of the most popular mountain treks is the ascent of Jebel Toubkal (4,167m/13,671 ft.), North Africa’s highest peak and part of the Western High Atlas. The mountain is the centrepiece of the Toubkal National Park, created in 1942 and Morocco’s oldest.
The usual starting point for this trek is the trailhead village of Imlil and to a lesser degree the ski-resort village of Oukaïmeden. Soft trekking is also popular here, with many trails passing through the region’s valleys and villages, providing pleasant day and multiday walks, especially during summer when the heat in Marrakech can become unbearable.
Other trekking spots include the Aït Bou Guemez Valley in the Central High Atlas, a beautiful part of the High Atlas range and trailhead valley for ascents of Morocco’s third-highest peak, Ighil Mgoun (4,071m/13,356 ft); Jebel Sarhro and Jebel Siroua, two ranges on the south side of the High Atlas requiring a degree of trekking self-sufficiency; the cedar forests, lakes, and craters around Ifrane in the Middle Atlas and only 2 hours’ drive from Fes or Meknes; the boulder-strewn Anti-Atlas cliffs and fertile palmeraies around Tafraoute; and the peaks and valleys of the Rif mountains, to the south of the relaxed village of Chefchaouen.
