Three Valleys & M'Goun Traverse

Welcome to Morocco. Your hotel in Guéliz becomes your gateway to adventure. If time allows, lose yourself in the labyrinthine souks where copperware gleams and spices perfume the air, or watch the sunset paint Jemaa el-Fna in shades of gold and rose.

Leave the city behind and cross into the Central High Atlas via Azilal. The landscape transforms as you enter the remote M’Goun massif — a world of towering ochre cliffs and hidden valleys. A short hike brings you to Taghia, the Moroccan Dolomites, where your gîte awaits beneath impossible limestone walls.

A spectacular day deep in the Dolomites. Dramatic views unfold of Taghia’s gorges and towering pink and grey cliffs. Ascend through this vertical world to the high Tighboula valley where your camp sits beneath the stars at 2,800 meters — the first night of many in the mountain silence.

Cross below Djebel Azourki (3,637m) to reach Tizi n’Illaz pass. Descend through high pastures where nomad camps dot the landscape, arriving at Lake Izourar, a turquoise jewel set in the mountains at 2,526 meters.

Enter the legendary Bougmez — the “Happy Valley.” Discover villages built of dry stone and adobe: Zawyat Oulmzi, Ifrane, Aït Wanougdal. Here, farmers guide wooden ploughs behind mules, women weave on ancient looms, and children run to greet you.

Follow the valley through patchwork fields. Pass fortified houses and dinosaur footprints preserved in stone. The unique wooden sanctuary of Sidi Moussa rises from the valley floor.

Leave the green valleys for high mountain terrain. Cross Tizi n’Oughri (3,300m) into a world of rock and sky. Encounter the transhumant shepherds of the Aït Atta tribe, their black tents scattered across the plateau.

Early departure for the summit. Follow the windswept ridge to the top at 4,068m — Morocco’s second-highest peak. Descend to the head of the M’Goun Valley, where the great gorge journey begins.

The landscape transforms into something otherworldly. Fairy chimneys rise along the stream. Ancient junipers cling to valley slopes. An isolated village welcomes you with tea and stories.

Descend the narrow upper valley, one of the most isolated in the Atlas. Terraced fields cling to steep slopes, hamlets shelter beneath canyon walls, and families tend wool and goats along ancient paths.

Enter “Achaâbou” — the great canyon with 500-meter sculpted walls. Oleander blooms along the river as light filters through the narrow passage, painting the rock amber and rose.

Continue through the gorges — river crossings, narrow passages, towering cliffs. Parts of the walk are in the water, sometimes thigh-deep. Emerge at Boutaghrar where your final gîte offers hot tagine and cold mountain water.

Drive back via the Dadès Valley and the Route of the Kasbahs. Cross the Atlas at Tizi n’Tichka pass and descend to Marrakech.

Transfer to the airport for your return flight.