Todgha Gorge

About this place

A series of limestone canyons north of the town of Tinghir in the eastern High Atlas, carved by the Todgha River on the last forty kilometres of its course through the mountains, with walls rising in places to about four hundred metres. Its most spectacular part is the last six hundred metres, where the canyon narrows to a flat stony track as little as ten metres wide in places, between sheer smooth rock walls up to about a hundred and sixty metres high on either side, with a clear stream running down the middle that you walk through. Climbers come from around the world for routes on its walls, and visitors come to walk the canyon and the nearby villages, as the sun turns the rock orange and red in the morning and afternoon. On the way in is the broad Tinghir oasis, with palm groves and earthen ksour. The visit is free, though a small parking fee may be charged. In the rainy season the river can rise and become dangerous, so avoid the canyon during storms. It sits roughly halfway between Ouarzazate and Merzouga, a good stop on a desert trip.