08/07/2021
Trekking in the High Atlas Mountains
Basing yourself in a hotel (or even on a day trip from Marrakech) there are several good day walks possible in the Imlil area and the near-bye Ouirgane National Park. The area around Imlil offers walks to neighbouring high passes or up to the shrine on the main trail to Toubkal, whilst Ouirgane and Ourika offer less dramatic more low key scenery and gentler walking. See here for our guide to trekking in the Atlas Mountains with children
A nicely balanced itinerary might include 2 to 3 nights in Douar Samra (or Kasbah Du Toubkal if you can afford it) with one or two day walks and plenty of time to soak up the views from the roof terraces and gardens. It is quite feasible to walk on your own, but trails aren’t marked and guides are very good, relatively in-expensive and highly recommended.
A multi-day trek really is the best way to experience the mountains. Most hotels reside in relatively modernised villages, but on a multi-day trek you can explore more traditional mud-built Berber villages, some beautiful valleys and high mountain scenery. All our multi-day treks include a guide, cook (who will prepare a cooked picnic lunch on the trail, dinners and breakfast all from delicious fresh ingredients) and mules to carry your gear.
Two to three day valleys and villages treks are not dis-similar to the concept of a Nepalese tea-house trek. These treks are designed with a lighter itinerary (typically 5-6 hrs max walking per day), stay overnight in traditional village gites and where possible your guide will take you for tea in a village home. These treks avoid the more difficult high passes staying below 3000m, making them perfect for winter and for those whose primary objective is enjoyment rather than testing peaks and passes. We tend to focus most of our valleys treks around the Azzaden and D'knt Valleys as the combination of scenery, varied trails and traditional villages is hard to beat. We have recently discontinued the traverse trek from Imlil to Ourika Valley traverse, because a recent road has been built along most of the route.
Toubkal can be climbed on treks from 2 days up to 6, More info Visit www.imlil-trekking.com
