Trekking the High Atlas: when to go, budget and itinerary

Imlil, at 1740 metres, is the historic base camp for Toubkal. In one evening you arrange a guide, a mule and warm gear, hired in the Kasbah quarter of Marrakech or on the spot. Around it, easy walking loops lead to Aroumd, the Tamatert pass or the Setti Fatma waterfall in the neighbouring Ourika valley. One or two days are enough to acclimatise before climbing higher, and the village hammam eases stiff legs afterwards.

Toubkal, 4167 metres, is done over two days from Imlil: a five-hour climb to the refuges at 3200 metres, then a start around 5am to reach the summit before the cloud. No technical difficulty from mid-April to October; in winter, crampons, an ice axe and a mountain guide are compulsory. An accompanying guide has been required since 2018 along the whole route, and the national park entrance is checked at Sidi Chamharouch.

Beyond Toubkal, three to six-day traverses link the valleys over passes above 3000 metres: from the Ourika to Imlil across the Yagour plateau and its rock carvings, from Tacheddirt to Lake Ifni, or east towards the Ait Bougmez valley. These routes pass through road-free villages, where you sleep in family homes, and give the true measure of the range away from the day-trippers.

From January to March, the Oukaimeden resort, at 2600 metres, opens Morocco's only ski lift and allows a day on the slopes 1 h 15 from Marrakech. Spring, with the melt, swells the streams and fills the valleys with flowers; autumn brings the most stable air and the best views of the peaks. In summer, people mostly climb to escape the furnace of the plain.