Imlil to Ourika Traverse: 3-Day Atlas Trek

1. Marrakech to Imlil (1,740m) to Tizi N'Tamaterte to Tacheddirt (approx. 2,300m) - Orchards and the Imnane Valley

5 hours trekking. Elevation gain +560m. You are collected from your Marrakech hotel in the morning and driven an hour through the foothills to Imlil (1,740m), inside Toubkal National Park, where your licensed mountain guide and the muleteers meet you. The trail turns east through the cherry, walnut and apple orchards of the Imlil Valley and rises steadily to the Tizi N'Tamaterte pass, where you can look back over the Imnane Valley and the Berber villages sitting in it. Another hour of walking carries you through Wanskra and along the river into Tacheddirt. The night is spent in the Tacheddirt village guesthouse at roughly 2,300m, a traditional Berber village high in its valley with snow-capped peaks in sight: plain rooms, thick blankets, dinner cooked in the house.

2. Tacheddirt to Tizi N'Tacheddirt (approx. 3,000m) to Laabbassen to Timichi - Over the pass, with the range laid out

6 hours trekking. Elevation change +700m / -1,000m. Breakfast first, then a steep climb southeast to the highest ground of the trek, Tizi N'Tacheddirt at around 3,000m, where the High Atlas opens up and snow-capped summits stand on every side. A 2-hour drop down a rocky pass brings you to Laabbassen, a Berber village, and that is where the picnic lunch is eaten. From there the path runs northeast down the valley to the village of Timichi. Dinner and the night are spent in the Timichi village guesthouse, which is a Berber family's own home.

3. Timichi to Tiourdiou to Anfli to Tadrart to Setti Fadma to Marrakech - Down the Ourika, village by village

4. 5 hours trekking, downhill the whole way as the Ourika Valley opens out. After breakfast the walk carries east and downhill, gently, through a run of Berber villages in the Ourika Valley: Tiourdiou, then Anfli, then Tadrart, each one a small huddle of stone and clay houses set along the river. The route passes Agadir N'Ait Boulmane and reaches Setti Fadma, which closes the Ourika Valley and is known for its waterfalls and the cafes beside the river. Lunch is taken there, with time left to look around. Your driver then returns the group to Marrakech, reaching the city in the early evening. There is no overnight; Day 3 closes the trek.