Why this ride
382 km from Marrakesh to Marrakesh, about 7 h 18 of riding. It goes by way of Taddart, Tizi n Tichka, Ouarzazate and back through Tizi n Tichka. The highest point is about 2,250 m. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tizi n'Tichka Pass starting at Marrakesh
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 382 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 18
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Road summary
A mountain pass from Marrakech, Morocco to Ouarzazate, Morocco, via Taddart. Key character: High Atlas; switchbacks; kasbah country. Surface: paved.
Scenic road chapters
Tizi n'Tichka Pass
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 12 km this is Tizi n'Tichka Pass, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Rider note
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 12 km
- Named road
- Tizi n'Tichka Pass
- Pass
- Tizi n Tichka
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Marrakech
Marrakech announces itself with a smell before it shows its face: woodsmoke, orange blossom, leather, grilled meat, with mint and diesel in the mix. The city, founded in the later eleventh century by the Almoravids, grew from a camp of tents at the edge of the Haouz plain into the capital of a series of Berber dynasties. Its walls and many of its buildings are built of local red clay, giving it the nickname of the red city, and behind them sits the old medina, a maze of lanes where mopeds, donkey carts and tourists push through together. The Koutoubia mosque, whose minaret rises about seventy metres above the roofs and dates from the twelfth century, is the landmark you steer by.
Read the complete Marrakech write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Marrakech is where the day begins. Next is Taddart.
2. Taddart
Taddart is a high-country village on the southern side of the Tizi n'Tichka, the road that carries traffic over the High Atlas between Marrakech and Ouarzazate. The pass itself is about 2,260 metres, among the highest paved crossings in North Africa, and the road descends on the south side into a dry, rocky world of clay-coloured villages, terraced fields and palm oases. Taddart lies in that southern descent, where the air warms and the greens turn to ochre.
Read the complete Taddart write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Taddart comes up 54 km in. Next is Tizi n Tichka.
3. Tizi n Tichka
The Tizi n'Tichka is the high road across the Atlas, the route that takes the main Marrakech to Ouarzazate highway over the crest of the mountains at about 2,260 metres. Below you, valleys of red earth and green terraced fields drop away toward the Sahara, and above you the bare slopes are patched with snow until late spring. In the Berber language tizi means pass, and the name has the sound of the wind itself.
Read the complete Tizi n Tichka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
108 km in you reach Tizi n Tichka. Next is Ouarzazate.
4. Ouarzazate
Ouarzazate is a town built where the High Atlas gives way to the desert, and the light there is so strong and clear that the film industry came to rely on it. It sits on a high plateau at the southern foot of the mountains, with the pale red earth and flat-topped hills of southern Morocco spreading out in front, and it has been the location for films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and numerous others. Huge studio complexes on the edge of town offer visits, with sets of ancient Egypt and Tibet standing in the dust, but the real attraction lies in the kasbahs.
Read the complete Ouarzazate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ouarzazate, about halfway. Next is back through Tizi n Tichka.
5. back through Tizi n Tichka
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tizi n Tichka write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tizi n Tichka sits at 216 km, about halfway. Next is back through Taddart.
6. back through Taddart
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Taddart write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Taddart comes up 270 km in. Next is Marrakech.
7. Marrakech
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Marrakech write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Marrakech closes the day.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Tizi n'Tichka Pass · part 1 · 103 km
- Tizi n'Tichka Pass · 190 km
- Tizi n'Tichka Pass · part 3 · 278 km
- Marrakech day out · Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou · 343 km