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Dadès Gorge

As the local saying goes, the wind has a son who lives in Boumalne, which is why he rips down this valley to visit him in winter. Sitting in the rain shadow of the Central Atlas, the Dadès Gorge presents a dramatic landscape: ancient rust-red and mauve mountains stripped back to zigzagging layers of strata and knobbly rock formations. A rush of springtime water puddles in the valley where irrigation channels siphon it off to fields of wheat and orchards of fig, almond and olive trees. A series of crumbling kasbahs and ksour (fortified villages) line the valley in the Berber villages of Aït Youl, Aït Arbi, Aït Oudinar, Aït Ouffi and Aït Toukhsine.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Tamellalt Valley

    Tamellalt Valley

    Dadès Gorge

    Eighteen kilometres from Boumalne you'll find these extraordinary red rock formations that look like wax, melting right into the green carpet of the…

  • Aït Youl

    Aït Youl

    Dadès Gorge

    Those art-deco tourism posters you’ll see all over Morocco showing a red-and-white kasbah in a rocky oasis aren’t exaggerating: just 6.5km into the gorge,…

  • Gorge de Miguirne

    Gorge de Miguirne

    Dadès Gorge

    Cresting over a small pass, 14km from Boumalne, is the hidden gem of Gorge de Miguirne, which joins the Dadès Gorge from the south. It offers a fine half…

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