The mountains in Morocco are divided into two chains: the first is coastal next to the Mediterranean coast and is known as the Rif Mountains. The second is a little inland and is known as the Atlas Mountains. The latter is divided into three distinct chains: the High Atlas, the Middle Atlas, and the Small Atlas or the Saharan Atlas. These mountains are cut by deep, fertile valleys.
Relief & Population
The relief of the High Atlas is divided into three different entities, from west to east, the western High Atlas, the central High Atlas and the eastern High Atlas. The population, mainly Amazigh of the Chleuh group, lives on pastoralism and agriculture. The inhabitants of the High Atlas can also speak a dialect different from the tachelhit, like the Aït Atta, the Aït Yafelman and other inhabitants of the region of Tinghir who belong to the cultural and linguistic area of Tamazight of central Morocco.
Treks
Trekking Quick Links
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Toubkal Massif Explore 8 Days
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Toubkal Classic Trek 8 Days
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Toubkal winter climb 5 Days
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Toubkal Experience Trek 3 Days
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Toubkal Ascent 2 Days
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Azrozaden Valley Overnight Trek
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Private overnight Trek Atlas Mountains
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Imnane Valley – Berber Villages Trek 2 days
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Berber villages Trek 3 days
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From Imlil to Setti Fadma 4 days / 3 nights
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The high Atlas Mountains Hike
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Berber Villages and Atlas Mountains Trek 6 days
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Real Hike Berber Villages 4 Days
Location
It is the highest massif in North Africa, sometimes nicknamed the “roof of Morocco” or even the “roof of North Africa”. It forms an immense barrier of approximately 750 kilometers in length which delimits Saharan Morocco from Atlantic and Mediterranean Morocco. It constitutes the centerpiece of the expanses of high Moroccan mountains – the whole of which covers an area of 100,200 km2.
Day Trips
The central High Atlas is an essentially limestone massif, morphologically dominated by tabular zones culminating at 2,500 meters above sea level, which stretches from Azilal to Ouarzazate.
Jebel M’Goun (4,071 meters) is the highest peak in this part of the High Atlas. We meet there a Berber population renowned for its hospitality.
The Geopark
FROM M’GOUN
Covering an estimated area of over 5,700 km², encompassing 15 municipalities (Azilal, Demnate, Tilougite, Zaouit Ahensal, Tabant, Ait M’Hamed, Ait Taguella, Agoudi N’Lkheir, Ait Abbas, Ait Boulli, Ait Blal, Sidi Boulkhelf, Tifni, Anergui Boutferda.).
The Geopark is an important actor for the socio-economic development of the region. it will stimulate the development of tourism, in particular geotourism, which will generate the creation of local businesses, thus producing new sources of income for the population.
The UNESCO Geopark of M’Goun also has an educational vocation. it aims to offer a scientific and environmental educational program.
Treks
- Altera deseruisse
- Per autem iracundia
- Utamur iudicabit vix
The Eastern High Atlas is made up of the vast high altitude plateaus of the upper Moulouya. These plateaus extend from Midelt – province of Khenifra, home to Jebel Ayachi (3,747 meters) – to Imilchil – province of Errachidia, where Jebel Saghro and the ancient massif of Tamlelt are located, the northern edge of which is occupied by its highest peaks, such as Jebel Ayachi (3,760 meters).
The altitude weakens towards the east, where the hamadas domain (pre-Saharan zone) begins.
This massif has become a paleontological site of international renown, following the discovery of the bones of a then unknown dinosaur, the Atlasaurus, a herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur about 18 to 20 meters long which inhabited Morocco 165 years ago. million years ago (Middle Jurassic). Another dinosaur about nine meters long was named Tazoudasaurus naimi, named after the village of Tazouda where it was discovered (70 kilometers from the city of Ouarzazate). It is older than the previous one (around 180 million years) and may well be the “ancestor” of the sauropods of North America which are 140 million years old – a time when North Africa and the American continent were united.
The Anti-Atlas, the Little Atlas or the Little Atlas is a mountain range in Morocco, part of the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. The Anti-Atlas stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest to the northeast, to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the town of Tafilalt, in total over a distance of about 500 km. The chain borders the Sahara to the south.
N’Kob is located in Jbel Saghro, a very inaccessible and rural region par excellence, with a population of around 68,000 inhabitants, with only two large towns located on the only major and tarred road: N’Kob and Tazzarine , villages of stones and adobe, where ingenious irrigation systems allow the cultivation of wheat, barley, vegetables and fruit trees (almond, walnut and some peach trees).
Country of the Aït Atta (or Hatta), sheep and goat breeders who change pastures once or twice a month to practice transhumance, especially in the summer when they leave these mineral lands transformed into a burning desert, to go north and stay in khaïma, traditional nomadic tents, made of thin goat hair strips.
The Anti-Atlas, the Little Atlas or the Little Atlas is a mountain range in Morocco, part of the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. The Anti-Atlas stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest to the northeast, to the heights of Ouarzazate and further east to the town of Tafilalt, in total over a distance of about 500 km. The chain borders the Sahara to the south.
The Siroua is located between the High Atlas and the desert. It presents a great variety of landscapes: vast spaces punctuated by sheepfolds, a panoramic summit, basalt peaks, earthen villages, beautiful fortified granaries, and pretty gorges. The villagers are very welcoming.
Weather
There are two types of mountain climates in the High Atlas.
One, oceanic subtropical, occurs on the northern and southern slopes of the western part (up to Jebel Toubkal) as well as on the northern slope of the central part (from Toubkal to Imilchil). Exposed to disturbances from the Atlantic, they are relatively humid with spaced but sometimes torrential precipitation. Between 600 and 1000 millimeters of water fall per year on average.
The summer drought, interspersed with thunderstorms, is intense. The snow cover is generally tenacious above 2,500 to 3,500 meters from November to April and can persist from September to June for the high peaks (with large variations depending on the exposure). Some rivers are never dry (asif Melloul, oued n’Fis, oued Tessaout, etc.), feeding fertile high-altitude basins: Aït Bou Guemez, Imilchil, etc. These conditions allow the existence of the forest (pines, holm oaks, cedars, etc.) but it is declining because of the triple effect of the drying up of the climate, overexploitation (heating and construction) and overgrazing of sheep. goat.
The other type of climate, continental semi-desert, manifests itself on the southern slope of the central part (from Toubkal to Imilchil) and all the eastern part (beyond Imilchil), with marked thermal amplitudes. There lie high steppes, deserts of stones and more rarely of sand, and a few valleys provided with water where agriculture, very localized, is possible. The forest is almost absent. This climate is quite similar to that of the Rocky Mountains of the southern United States.
Biodiversity
Wildlife
Felines: the caracal lynx, as well as the Berber leopard, exist, but in a very limited area. Common mammals are mostly nocturnal: weasel, jackal, fox, and porcupine. Wild boars are very common in the oak groves. The bighorn sheep are only visible between 2,000 and 4,000 meters away.
The getulia squirrel is easily observed. The nest egg, a monkey from the macaque family, frequents the gorges of the High Atlas and the cedar groves of the Middle Atlas. Snakes are present up to high mountains, while only one poisonous reptile is found, the latest viper (30 to 40 centimeters long). As for the trout, they live at altitude in the streams. Numerous raptors are found, such as the ferocious hawk, booted eagle, Circaetus, hawk, kestrel, peregrine falcon, and up to 4000 meters, golden eagles and vultures. We can also observe the rock pigeon.
Two species are common to the mountainous regions of the Near East: the pink-winged finch and the horned lark, identifiable by the yellow feathers of its head. Migratory birds cross the Atlas Mountains in spring and autumn at high altitudes. The Meadow Pipit breeds in Europe and spends the winter in the lower Atlas valleys.
Flora
On the high plateaus and the high valleys (2000 to 2500 meters), the trees disappear, replaced by broom and bushy plants. The only one that remains is the thuriferous juniper on the north or west slopes. In March and until June, a damp lawn appears on the plateaus, brightened up with daffodils. Only the thorny pads are maintained in high mountains (from 2,500 meters): the alyssum with gray leaves, the bupleurum, the balance laburnum, a broom with yellow flowers, the prickly sabine.
Above 3600 meters, the pads disappear and vegetation is absent. Atlas Leucanthemum, a thick-leaved violet, blooms atop Toubkal. The vegetation has been degraded by man and his herds, to the point of not being able to regenerate. In the past beautiful oak groves were supposed to cover the slopes of the Atlas, today attempts are being made to reforest them, it seems with success, with plantations of Aleppo pines.
Tourism
The crossing of the Moroccan High Atlas, on the route of the three parts of the Atlas, was carried out in more than 50 days
In culture
The man with the fleece, Bilmaun in Berber, Boujloud in Arabic, is the name of a carnival character who dons the remains of the sacrificed beast (during the Muslim feast of the Sacrifice) and, for two days, participates in a rite archaic, still alive in the High Atlas7. The anthropologist Abdellah Hammoudi studies it in his book La Victime et ses masques (1988).
Notes and references
- Jacques Pegurier and Ahmed Bellaoui, “Restructuring of the recent rural space through its relations with the urban”, Horizons Maghrébins – Le droit à la mémoire, vol. 16, no 1, 1991, p. 15–24 (DOI 10.3406 / horma.1991.1065, read online [archive], accessed July 25, 2019).
(en) Jean-David Moreau, Naima Benaouiss, Abdelilah Tourani, and J. -Sébastien Steyer, “A new ichnofauna from the Permian of the Zat Valley in the Marrakech High Atlas of Morocco”, Journal of African Earth Sciences, vol. 172, December 1, 2020, p. 103973 (ISSN 1464-343X, DOI 10.1016 / j.jafrearsci.2020.103973, read online [archive], accessed November 25, 2020).
Michael Peyron, La GTAM – The Great Crossing of the Moroccan Atlas, 1988.
Jeffry Tailer and Driss Hemmi, “Among the Berbers”, National Geographic, January 2005.
“National Geographic Magazine” [archive], on Magazine (accessed February 11, 2020).
Fatiha Aboulhorma, “Boujloud” or the saga of a rite that refuses to die [archive], Menara, September 29, 2014.
Hassan Hermas, “Bilmawen Bodmawen”: A carnival of colors in the streets of Inezgane and Dcheira [archive], Map Express, September 20, 2017.
Hammoudi Abdallah, The victim, and his masks. Essay on sacrifice and masquerade in the Maghreb, 1988 [read online [archive]].