Morocco · Tizi n’Tichka Atlas Crossing

A 294 km loop from Taddert

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Why this ride

Atlas switchbacks, heat and a proper cultural anchor. Out of Zerkten and back again: 294 km, roughly 5 h 39 in the saddle. It goes by way of Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate overnight. The climb of the day is Tizi n’Tichka Pass. It tops out at about 2,250 m. It is a high-mountain day.

Roadbook

1. Taddert fuel fuel

   Taddert is a small village strung along the N9 high in the Atlas, a few hundred metres below the Tizi n'Tichka pass, which at around twenty-two hundred and sixty metres is the highest main road crossing of the range. Every vehicle that makes the journey between Marrakech and Ouarzazate comes through, so the village has a lively roadside life, with cafés, mineral and fossil shops, and men waving at passing riders. Fuel is available, which helps, because the climb on both sides is long.

   The road itself was built in the 1930s by the French and has been repaired and widened many times since. It climbs from Marrakech in a series of broad bends, with long, steep gradients and hairpins that drag trucks to a crawl, and this makes overtaking a daily challenge. Rock falls and potholes are common, and mist, rain and snow in winter can close the pass or demand chains. Between December and March, check conditions before you go. In the early morning, with a clear sky and cold air, the descent towards the desert side is wonderful.

   Around Taddert, the landscape changes dramatically. The northern slopes are green with walnut and almond groves, and the villages are built of terracotta-coloured mud brick. After the pass, the colours turn to red and ochre, and the valleys are dry and wide. A few kilometres off the main road, the kasbah at Telouet, once the seat of the powerful Glaoui family, who ruled the region under the French, stands in crumbling splendour with its painted ceilings still visible.

   Practical advice is simple. Fill your tank here or in Ouarzazate, bring cash in dirhams, and buy water. Mint tea at a roadside café is a good rest, though the sweetness may surprise you. Beware of dogs, goats and children near the road, and of lorries cutting corners. Bargaining is the norm in the shops, and a smile goes a long way. Spring and autumn offer the best weather, while summer is hot on the southern side.

2. Tizi n’Tichka Pass pass · 2260 m

   The Tizi n'Tichka is the road that joins Marrakech to the south, and it climbs to around 2,260 metres through the heart of the High Atlas. It was built by the French in the 1930s as a way to link the plains to the desert oases beyond, and it follows an old caravan route that traders and armies used for centuries. Today the N9 carries buses, trucks and tourists, and it is the main crossing of the range, so the road has both a working and an adventurous character.

   The climb from the Marrakech side begins in warm plains of olive and orange, then rises through terraced villages of red earth houses and juniper hills. The air thins, the temperature drops, and the landscape turns from green to russet and grey. The summit is a broad saddle with a few cafés and stalls selling minerals and fossils, and on a clear day the view reaches across the ranges, with Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa at 4,167 metres, rising in the west. On the southern side the road descends into drier country, with kasbahs and clay villages above palm-filled valleys and, eventually, the Sahara's edge.

   The ride is long and varied. There are many hairpins on the northern ramp, and the road surface is usually decent but can be broken at the edges, with patches of gravel, potholes and sometimes rockfall after rain. Lorries crawl uphill, and overtaking them on blind bends is a common but risky habit. Take your time and stay alert for animals, children and the odd vehicle in the wrong lane. In winter, snow and ice can close the pass or require chains, and fog can reduce visibility to a few metres, so check conditions before you leave. Police checkpoints and speed traps are common, and the limits are enforced, so keep your papers handy and your speed in check.

   Fuel is available in Marrakech and Ouarzazate and in some towns along the way, but the high section has little, so start with a full tank. Taddert, a village near the top, has cafés and basic services. Water and snacks are worth carrying, because the climate is dry and the sun is strong.

   If you have time, the old Glaoui kasbah at Telouet, reached by a side road, is a remarkable ruin with painted ceilings. It gives you a taste of the power that once ruled this pass.

3. Aït Benhaddou sight

   Aït Benhaddou looks like a sandcastle that someone left to harden for four hundred years. The ksar, a fortified village of rammed-earth towers and flat-roofed houses stacked up a hillside above the Ounila river, sits about thirty kilometres from Ouarzazate on the old caravan track between the Sahara and Marrakech, and it was listed by UNESCO in 1987. The walls glow red-ochre in the evening, the towers have geometric patterns pressed into their upper storeys, and the whole cluster is reflected, on the rare days when the river runs full, in the water below.

   The place is a monument to the trade that made it. Caravans carrying salt, gold, slaves and cloth came up from Timbuktu and across the desert, and this was a stop where merchants rested before crossing the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka. Today only a handful of families still live inside the old walls, while most of the village has moved across the river into modern houses, and the earth buildings need constant repair after rain. Cinema found it early. Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and the Game of Thrones series all used it, which explains the souvenir shops and the camels waiting for hire.

   For a rider, the approach is the thing. The N9 descends from Taddert in long, broad curves into a drier, redder landscape, with the road dropping toward the Ouarzazate basin in stages and the colour of the rock changing from brown to a deep brick. A short side road leads to the ksar from the main highway, and the surface is generally fine. Morning or late afternoon light is best for both riding and photographs, since the midday sun flattens everything, and in July and August the heat is considerable.

   Small cafés on the river bank serve mint tea and tagine, and you can cross the river on stepping stones or, when the water is high, on a small footbridge. Keep some cash for the entry to the upper terraces, which usually costs a few dirhams, and wear shoes with a decent grip, because the paths are steep and loose. Go before the tour buses, if you can manage it.

4. Ouarzazate overnight sleep

   Ouarzazate overnight, late in the day.

5. Back to Taddert fuel finish

   Back at Taddert fuel. That is the ride.

Where this sits

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