Atlas traverse mountain bike holiday, Morocco

A classic north-south atlas crossing, suitable for those with some mountain biking experience and a good basic level of fitness. One notch up on the scale from our Atlas to Desert trip, this thrilling mountain bike adventure is perfect for those looking for a challenging off road trip in Morocco.

The Central High Atlas is one of the most unspoilt and beautiful of Morocco's mountain regions. It’s also one of Morocco’s best regions for mountain biking, with mile upon mile of uninterrupted jeep tracks and trails. On this adventure we take on some challenging climbs and superb descents en route from the verdant valley of Ait Bougmez to the striking Dades Gorge in the Moroccan south. The variety of landscape is staggering - from stark mountains and fertile valleys, to rocky gorges, to rivers and pine forests and isolated windswept plateaux.

There's also the challenge of a 100km "century ride" on the last day, as well as the sights of Marrakech and the Ouzoud Falls to be experienced and explored.

Nights are spent in basic "gîte" accommodation, with a night's wilderness camping and a night spent in a local family house. In the evening we have the chance to sample Morocco’s cuisine, whilst lunches are normally taken picnic-style, usually in beautifully remote places.

Detailed Itinerary:
Day 1
Arrive at Marrakech Airport (RAK), following the scheduled flight from the UK. (Confirmation of flight times from the UK will be given upon booking). Once you have collected your baggage and/or bikes you will be met by one of the Skedaddle guides, who will transport you to our hotel accommodation in the centre of Marrakech. Flights normally arrive in the evening, so, once checked-in we head out for a get-together dinner and trip briefing leaving some time to size up the bikes for those who are hiring, or for those who have brought their own, we will assist in re-assembling them. Overnight 3 Star Hotel.

Day 2
After breakfast we are met by our transfer vehicle and our Moroccan mountain guide to take us to the Ait Bougmez valley in the Central High Atlas mountains. The journey takes a total of around four hours, but we break the journey half way with a visit to Morocco’s most impressive waterfall – the Cascades d’Ouzoud. Arriving at the village of Ouzoud, set in a broad flat valley, one has little idea of what lies beyond. Passing the cluster of restaurants and souvenir shops, the ground drops away dramatically, giving way to a verdant gorge, with three beautiful cascades of white water falling into the pools below. Here we take a walk down to the foot of the falls and have a cup of mint tea in one of the cafés overlooking the falls. Continuing on from Ouzoud we drive for a further hour and a half high into the Atlas Mountains. Here we choose an appropriate spot for a picnic lunch, before taking to our machines for a 30km (largely downhill) ride down into th e valley of Ait Bougmez, one of the most beautiful valleys in the High Atlas.

14km in length and about a kilometre across, it’s a wide flat expanse of fruit orchards, fields of barley, and green pastures criss-crossed by streams flowing down from the surrounding M’Goun massif. The village of Tabant is the main administrative centre which lies a couple of kilometres from our gite in the village of Imelghas, at 1860m above sea level. On arrival we may have time to climb to a hilltop "Marabout" (holy shrine) to get a panorama of our surroundings before heading back to our gîte for dinner where we’ll discuss our forthcoming ride. Dinner and overnight gîte.

Day 3
After a leisurely breakfast we set off on a day’s ride around the Ait Bougmez valley. It’s an easy day’s riding along singletrack valley trails and wider jeep tracks. Today the gradient is gentle, giving everyone time to loosen up before taking to the mountains proper. Our first port of call is the village of Tabant where we’ll drop in on the Sunday market, or souq. All major villages and small towns have a market day where people from the surrounding area descend on the town to buy goods for the week ahead. Despite the tarmac road to Azilal, the valley is still very isolated and the souq performs an important function for villagers, and even nomads, from the region. Here we can enjoy a glass of mint tea and soak up the atmosphere of a traditional (and particularly friendly) Atlas mountain market.

Moving on, we continue westward through the valley along paths normally used by villagers and their mules. At times it’s hard to believe we’re in Morocco, as we ride past cultivated fields, orchards, and meadows of wild flowers. Every now and then we’re sure to get invited into Berber family houses for tea and bread with olive oil such is the incredible hospitality of people in the Bougmez region.

After stopping for a picnic lunch we continue our ride either back through the fields or along a smooth tarmac road that takes us back to Imelghas. Dinner and overnight gîte

Day 4
After breakfast we set off on a ride which, over the course of the next five days will take us from the verdant valleys of the north to the rugged canyons of the Moroccan south. Heading off from our gîte, we follow the Bougmez valley northwards, climbing gradually and passing through some more typical adobe villages. The jeep track follows the valley before climbing sharply out of Ait Bougmez and up to a pass at 2600 metres above sea level. It’s a tough 8km climb but you’ll be well rewarded with some fantastic views southward over the valley. Up at the pass the scenery changes as the greenery of the valley gives way to more stark, wild mountains punctuated with simple stone shelters (azibs) used by nomads in summer when they migrate from the burning hot south with their flocks of animals. It’s also good terrain for sighting Bonelli’s Eagles and Ospreys.

After a fast descent we stop for our picnic lunch in a river valley where another souq is held once a week. After a good rest we have another climb of 6km or so to tackle before some more glorious downhill to our overnight stop. This time we climb to 2700m – enough altitude to notice a shortness of breath in the lungs – but it’s all worth it as we descend through some wonderful scenery along a rough trail to the village of Telmest, set in a cultivated valley which seldom sees other tourists and where we stay in a Berber family house for the night. Dinner and overnight in family home.

Day 5
Today we make a leisurely start, taking time to enjoy our surroundings after a tough day’s riding yesterday. In spring the valley is awash with wild flowers and fields of corn and barley, and it’s a beautiful sight to watch the locals out in the fields. Today’s ride takes just a couple of hours with the aim of arriving at our destination for lunch.

After a short climb up a precipitous track, we descend for 15km through pine forests along a superb winding trail. We pass some beehives en route where the local people cultivate honey in clearings in the pine forest, and then the huge limestone monolith of “La Catedrale” appears. The rock is so named as it resembles the piped masonry found on the on the exterior of some cathedrals. Here we settle into our gîte and have lunch by a river.

The afternoon is free for some optional trips. Either we can spend some time exploring the area on foot (there are several half day hikes in the region) or the support vehicle can take you up to the top of another monstrous climb and you can bike back down. The choice is yours. Dinner and overnight gîte

Day 6
Today's ride is a tough one with most of the day spent climbing. The first part of the day is a 35km section, following a rough track alongside a stream that joins the main channel at the Cathedrale. It's a gradual ascent through a beautiful gorge where water flows year round. The route is lined with incredible cacti and there are plenty of opportunities to cool off in the river. After 35km we arrive at our lunch stop near the village of Anergui, a small settlement set in a wonderful location lost in the heart of the Central High Atlas.

Re-energised, we have the afternoon to tackle the toughest climb of the tour - a 12km haul up from Anergui onto a plateau perched at 2500m above sea level. That's 1000m of climbing, before a short downhill takes us to our wild campsite where we set up camp and spend the night with only a small stream and the surrounding hills for company. Dinner and overnight camping

Day 7
After a hefty camp breakfast we bike straight out of camp for a day of undulating riding. Today has several small passes in store for us, as well as some superb and varied descents through some more classic Central Atlas scenery. After a gradual warm up climb there’s a rough exciting descent with some singletrack trails used by villagers and their mules. Spare a thought for our support vehicles as they struggle to find a path along the jeep track which at times is merely the bed of the river that flows down the valley. At the foot of the descent, there’s a river crossing as we make our way through a gorge before climbing again onto an exposed plateau dotted with farm houses. Our lunch spot will depend on how far we advance but we’ll find a suitable location that makes the most of our surroundings.

The final leg of the day’s ride takes us on a winding descent to the first tarmac road we have seen since our arrival in Ait Bougmez. There’s a feeling of returning to civilisation in some form, but it doesn’t last for long! Here we hop into our support vehicles for a transfer to Agoudal, passing through the village of Imilchil en route. Imilchil is famous for its annual brides’ festival where young people parade along the streets of the village in search of a partner whilst their parents handle the negotiation procedure with the prospective partner’s family. There is little else to explain the cluster of hotels in what’s otherwise a one horse town. We pass through the town and continue along dirt roads another 25km to our overnight stop in the village of Agoudal.

Day 8
Today is a big challenge; 100km of riding taking us from the high plateaux of the Central High Atlas into what is the start of the deep south of Morocco. By the time we arrive in Agoudal we can clearly notice the change in character from previous days with the tougher and harsher south stamping its imprint on the landscape, the villages and the people - a character that continues to change as we descend to our destination, the spectacular Dades Gorge. As today’s ride is a difficult challenge for any rider, we have to set off early and keep a steady pace up throughout the day. The first part of the ride is a gradual, but nevertheless taxing, climb up to the highest pass at 2500m above sea level. It’s a rough track in places and the hardest part of the climb is about 5km long. After this we have a fantastic reward - a glorious sweeping 20km descent across an immense and barren landscape, including some excellent singletrack.

That leaves another 20km of dirt road, through villages and largely downhill, before a 35km tarmac section takes us into the Dades Gorge and our overnight stop in a comfortable maison d’hôtes guest house. The tarmac road is mainly downhill but there’s one last sting in the tail with a very steep 1km section right at the end of the ride! Here you’ll have to dig in, but the end in sight and a cold beer waiting on arrival should help to breathe fire into those tired muscles. Remember that the support vehicle will be on hand for those in need of assistance. Dinner and overnight maison d’hôtes

Day 9
With our biking mission accomplished we take some time to see the fabulous Dades Gorge before taking a full day transfer back to Marrakech. If we have time on route we can visit the UNESCO site of Ait Benhaddou – an 11th century kasbah surrounded by desert and mountains. From here we take the Tichka pass over the Atlas mountains before dropping down onto the plains surrounding Marrakech.

Arriving back in Marrakech is a real highlight. Having arrived in the evening at the start of the trip we had little time to explore the Marrakech medina (old town). This is another UNESCO Heritage Site and said to be the second largest medieval complex in the world, after Cairo.

Guides are available for those who wish to be guided but we recommend seeing the city at your own pace, taking time to wander through the beguiling labyrinth of tiny alleys and passageways in the ancient medina. You might like to visit the ancient Badi and Bahia Palaces, the museum of Marrakech, or a short taxi ride will take you to the Majorelle Botanical Garden, owned by Yves Saint Laurent. There are also the famous souqs (markets) of Marrakech - ideal for devotees of ethnic fashion and decoration, but worth a look for the sights, sounds and smells of this most exotic of markets. But the real Marrakech experience is more about enjoying its unique atmosphere.

Tonight we explore the main square – the Djemaa el Fna – to witness one of the world’s most animated nighttime spectacles. At night the square in transformed into a giant open air restaurant with men in white coats serving anything from sheep’s head stew to snails in hot sauce. The rest of the square is dedicated to other forms of entertainment such as snake charmers, story tellers, acrobats and dancers. Later we will enjoy a farewell dinner in a restaurant before exploring what Marrakech has to offer in the way of nightlife. Overnight - 3 star hotel.

Day 10
Transfer to your departure point.

Equipment
We provide everything except a bike (although we are able to hire these, see booking form for details), personal equipment and clothing, including a 4 season sleeping bag for cold camping nights. Berber sleeping mats are provided.

If you are taking your own bike it must be at least a mountain bike with suspension forks and a minimum of 24 gears, with many people bringing along full-suspension models. No other type of bike is suitable for this trip. Please contact us if you are unsure whether your bike will be suitable. During the holiday you will be using your bike each day and it is imperative that it is in good mechanical order. If you are not mechanically minded your local bicycle dealer should undertake this service. We will of course be taking a full tool kit and a selection of spares, which we will provide should the need arise. Details of which spares you should take will be included in the Information Pack sent with your booking confirmation.

What the price doesn't include
A) Personal clothing and equipment (including a 4 season sleeping bag).
B) Travel to and from Morocco.
C) Alcoholic drinks.
D) Travel insurance (available if required, £32).
E) Evening meals/entertainment/city tours in Marrakech.  
F) Bar bills, telephone calls, souvenirs, etc.
G) Bike hire (if applicable).
H) Entrance fees to museums.
I) Tips for local guides/drivers.