Ourika Day Trek

Ourika Day Trek: 1 Day

Trek Grade: Moderate

Day 1: Marrakech – Ourika Valley - Marrakech

Depart Marrakech (or wherever you stay in the region) after breakfast for the 1½ hour drive south along the beautiful Ourika Valley, with views over palmeries, terraced irrigated and Berber hamlets. Drive to the village of Tiguemi n’ Oumzilet Tnine. Cross the river Assif Ourika and walk through olive groves and up to Akhlij, a village with attractive red earth buildings, and then by zigzag path via the hamlet of Tafza at 1,150 metres.

You next take a sinuous hillside path towards the hamlets of Amghliz, Azrou Malout, Anins and Taourirt from where you’ll get magnificent views of both the higher barren mountains and lush irrigated valleys below. In the distance is the peak of Adrar n’ Bou Tazete  at 3,050 metres. In some of the villages you may see potters and women making carpets. Usually a picnic is taken by the river bank.

After lunch you walk on through this beautiful valley to the hamlet of Setti Fatma at 1,740m with its ancient walnut groves and then you climb of about 300 metres up the narrow valley to the Cascades (waterfalls, of which there are seven) where, if you are lucky, you may see a group of Barbary Apes (actually a macaque). Please note that it would only be possible to visit all of the waterfalls if you cut out part of the morning activity. This variation may be discussed with the guide on departure) . Finally you descend to Setti Fatma where, at around 17.00, you’ll depart by road to Marrakech, arriving back at around 18.15pm.