Trekking in the Atlas Mountains - Toubkal, Mgoun and Jebel Sahro

This guidebook concentrates on treks and summits in the Toubkal, Mgoun Massif and Jebal Sahro parts of Morocco's Atlas mountain range.The Atlas mountains are over 1000km long, high and wild. Describes treks and routes on all main summits in these areas, plus has all planning information to get the best from a trip to Morocco’s mountains.

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Imlil to Toubkal Refuge

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Time: 4½-5hrs
Ascent: 1470m
Grade: Strenuous

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This is the standard approach, and the best-used path in the Atlas. From Imlil take the main track heading up from the square. Follow this out of the village, where the track turns R, then back L. Where it makes a second sharp turn R by a pink house take the footpath that leads straight on.

Continue along the path through fields to a watercourse, passing a house on L. Stay in this line for 100m or so beyond the house until the path starts to switchback. Go up this to reach the motorable dirt road to Aroumd. Take this, past the Cafe Lac d’Ifni (a new building opposite the main village of Aroumd).

Stay on this track, which enters the broad valley base ahead (40mins). It leads to the head of the field system, where an obvious track heads L up the valley side, passing a huge boulder and a few walnut trees. Go past these to where the track levels out a little. It leads in about 2½hrs to a ford in the stream just below a large white-painted boulder. The boulder marks the shrine, or marabout, of Sidi Chamarouch (2340m) and contains a small mosque. It is a popular place of local pilgrimage, as the source which emerges from the rocks here is reputed to have healing powers. The waters are meant to be especially good in curing leg ailments. How true it is I don’t know, but I have seen someone being helped unsteadily down from here by his two friends. When I asked about this, his friends told me that he had been carried up there as a cripple, but now, after three days, he was able to walk.

Across the stream from the shrine, and reached by a small footbridge, is a collection of small shops selling trinkets, chocolate and the ubiquitous tins of sardines. Prices here are some of the most extortionate I’ve encountered in Morocco.

From Sidi Chamarouch take the steep zigzags on the RH side (true L bank) to emerge onto an easy-angled path leading up the valley. Toubkal is the huge bulk on the opposite bank. An hour or so after Sidi Chamarouch the Tadat pinnacle appears conspicuously on the skyline ahead. The Toubkal hut eventually emerges into view, 20 mins before arrival there (4½hrs from Imlil).