Day by day itinerary
1. Marrakech to Imlil (1,740m) to Tizi N'Mzik (2,489m) to Tamsoult (2,250m) - Day one: easing into the altitude over the pass
Profile 1,740m, then 2,489m, then 2,250m. 5 hours on foot. Around 12km. Gain and loss +749m / -239m. Night at the Tamsoult hut.
Pickup is at 9:00 AM from your Marrakech hotel, followed by a 90-minute drive across the Haouz Plain and through Asni village to Imlil at 1,740m, inside Toubkal National Park. Your licensed mountain guide and the mule team are waiting there.
From Imlil the path leaves the valley and climbs to the Tizi N'Mzik pass at 2,489m, which is the first proper ascent of the trek. The top opens out on all sides, the Imlil Valley behind you, the Azzaden Valley in front and the Atlas ranging away in every direction. This is the acclimatisation doing its work, altitude gained gently and without the pressure of a summit day. Lunch is a picnic in juniper forest.
The descent drops into the Azzaden Valley and reaches Tamsoult, the Berber village at 2,250m. The night is in a local mountain hut, simple and warm. Dinner is cooked and served by the team.
2. Tamsoult (2,250m) to Ighouliden Waterfalls to Aguelzim Pass (3,560m) to Refuge (3,207m) - Day two: waterfalls, the high pass and the refuge
Profile 2,250m, then 3,560m, then 3,207m. 7 hours on foot. Around 13km. Gain and loss +1,310m / -353m. Night in a refuge dormitory.
After breakfast the climb out of the Azzaden Valley begins, and it is a stiff one. The trail passes the Ighouliden waterfalls on the way, spilling down the rock face, which is the most photogenic point on the trek, and then keeps climbing as the terrain grows more dramatic on the approach to the Aguelzim Pass at 3,560m. The pass is the day's reward, and among the most spectacular viewpoints the Atlas has. Lunch is a picnic at the top, with the High Atlas laid out around you, the Haouz plains falling away north and the Toubkal massif standing ahead.
From the pass you drop to the mountain refuge at 3,207m for a dormitory bed and dinner. By now the body has had two days of adjustment, a night at 2,250m and now one at 3,207m, which makes the following morning's summit push far easier than arriving straight up from Imlil.
3. Refuge (3,207m) to Summit (4,167m) to Refuge to Imlil (1,740m) to Marrakech - Day three: dawn on the summit, then all the way to Imlil
Profile 3,207m, then 4,167m, then 1,740m. 8-9 hours in total. Around 13km. Gain and loss +960m / -2,427m. Summit at dawn.
Breakfast comes early and you leave before light. The route takes the south cirque over scree and boulder ground. Two days of gradual ascent have already done their work, which makes this climb considerably more comfortable than it is on the two-day ascent. Reckon on 3 to 4 hours to the top.
At 4,167m you are on the roof of North Africa, beside the triangular summit pyramid. The view goes right round: the Atlas and the Marrakech plain northwards, then the Anti-Atlas and the Sahara to the south. Around 45 minutes is spent up there.
You drop back to the refuge for lunch, then keep descending to Imlil down the Ait Mizane Valley, going past the Sidi Chamarouch shrine. Your driver is waiting in Imlil for the transfer to Marrakech, arriving early evening.