7-Day Trek to the Summit of Mt Toubkal, Morocco

Fly from London and arrive in Marrakech. and stay in a city riad, explore the main square and enjoy a dinner out. You will be met at the airport and the journey to town is about 15 minutes, we use a number of riads near to the centre.  

Start your day with breakfast and an 8 am group meeting. Then head into the mountains, passing Tahanaoute and stunning Atlas views. Arrive in Imlil and hike to your base in Aroumd. In the afternoon, enjoy a short walk and settle into your traditional Amazigh-style mountain gite.  

A days walk in the Imlil area to acclimatise. Initially hike up to a pass called Tizi Tamaterit and lunch in a glade outside the village of Ikiss, and then over another pass called Tizi Aguersioual and back to the riad in Ait Souka. 4 or 5 hours and a total ascent of 1000 metres over the two passes. This is excellent acclimatisation and an opportunity to visit some of the Berber villages and get a feel for the local culture and terrain.

The bags go on the mules and the journey begins by passing through Imlil, into the Azzadene valley up to the Tamsoult Refuge at 2250m in the heart of the national park. The walk is 11 kms and takes about 6 hours with 800m up and 400m down. Tamsoult Refuge is almost at the head of the valley surrounded by juniper plantations and has several dormitories, and showers with toilets, and several communal areas for meals and socialising.  

Continuing up to the head of the valley past some spectacular waterfalls called Ighouliden and a steep walk up to the “99 zig zags” which end at the high mountain pass of Aguelzim at 3500m. The summit of Aguelzim is half an hour scramble from this point and there are great views of the Atlas Range and the whole of Toubkal. The path then descends steeply down into the valley and to the two main refuges at 3250m which are called Nelter and Mouflons. Distance up the the high pass is 7kms with an ascent of 1200m, and the descent is 3km. The trek takes about 5 hours in total.

Leaving the refuge early in the morning at about 7am, the path to the summit of Toubkal begins with a scree slope and rocky path to a hanging valley (south cwm). The path is easy to follow but it can be windy. The valley is strewn with large boulders and the path winds up the far side and to the pass called Tizi Toubkal with nice views over the Atlas Range. Follow the rocky ridge to the summit in about one hour from here. The total ascent is 950m and takes about five or six hours to summit and trek back to the refuge for lunch / R&R. After lunch we hike down the valley back to Imlil, a walk of about 12kms which takes four hours. The path is good and passes several places to get drinks. The trip ends back at the riad in Ait Souka, Imlil, and an evening dinner with some celebratory Berber music

Drive back to Marrakech after breakfast to catch the flight home and maybe spend a few hours in the city having lunch and buying souvenirs.