<< Back to previous page

A wonderful one-week trek to climb Mt Toubkal, North Africa's highest mountain!

At 4,167m, Mount Toubkal is the highest mountain in North Africa. The hike to the summit is challenging, but it requires no mountaineering experience and the panoramic view from he summit makes the hard work worthwhile.
With the start of the trek just a couple of hours drive from Marrakech, you can reach the summit and back within a week and still have time to explore Morocco’s most captivating city, Marrakech.

Day 1: We leave Marrakech after breakfast and drive to Imlil via Asni. Imlil is the principal trailhead for walkers. This is the place where we meet our mule team and once all our gear is loaded we begin walking along the valley towards Tacheddirt, some 8 km from Imlil. Soon the trail begins to rise as we climb up to the pass at Tizi n' Tamatert (2279m). We then descend to the pretty village of Ouaneskra and continue, for a further half-hour or so, to Tacheddirt (3000m), where we set up camp near the river.

Day 2: After crossing the valley we begin a long, slow ascent to the pass at Tizi Likemt
(3555m). At the top we enjoy our first fine view of the Toubkal massif before a long downhill descent to the village of Azib Likemt, where we set up our camp for the night.

Day 3: This day is going to be a long but quite easy day, passing many different landscapes. From Tizi n’Ououraine (3120m) we enjoy further views of the Toubkal
massif, including the summit, the east face and the Ifni Dome (3876m). The trail
leads on towards Amsouzert, one of the most striking villages in the region,
where we spend the night in a simple village Gite.

Day 4: West of Amsouzert are several small villages, which we explore as we make our
way towards Ifni Lake, the only lake in the massif. It is a memorable sight,
surrounded by rocky mountains and giant heaps of rubble, and is unusually deep.
We expect to arrive by lunchtime and spend the afternoon relaxing at the shore.
We camp tonight in this area.

Day 5:  By now we should be both fit and acclimatised, and ready to tackle the hardest
day of the trek. We make our way along a steep path that leads up a seemingly
endless scree slope. At length we reach the pass at Tizi n'Ouanoums (3664m), a
narrow ledge between two shafts of rock. From here it is a long zigzag descent
to Nelter Hut, the mountain refuge where we spend the night.

Day 6: We leave before dawn, following a well-worn route to the summit. If conditions
are good it should take no more than 2-3 hours to reach the summit, where we
enjoy beautiful views of the entire Atlas range and the Marrakech plains beyond.
Returning to base, we then descend fairly rapidly to the villages of Sidi
Chamharouch and Aremd, before following the Mizane River, along a well-forested
trail, to the trailhead at Imlil. Transfer back to Marrakech.

Day 7: Free day Marrakech

Day 8: Departure from Marrakech