Toubkal, the roof of North Africa, one valley at a time

Jebel Toubkal rises to 4,167 metres in the High Atlas range, which makes it the highest point not just in Morocco but in the whole of North Africa, a fact that surprises people who tend to picture the continent's high mountains further south and east. What makes it unusual as a major peak is how accessible its base is: Imlil, the trailhead village, sits less than two hours from Marrakech by road, which means a walk to the roof of North Africa can begin the same morning it starts in a city more usually associated with souks and riads than snow.

A walk in stages, not a single push

The standard route to the summit is not a technical climb but a strenuous two-day walk, typically overnighting at a mountain refuge before a pre-dawn start for the final push, timed so that walkers reach the top for the light rather than the heat. The path climbs steadily through the Mizane valley, past the last villages and cultivated terraces, into a bare, rocky upper landscape that looks and feels a world away from the palm groves of Marrakech a short drive behind. Depending on the season, the final stretch to the summit can involve snow and ice underfoot even when the lower valley is warm enough for shirtsleeves, which is worth taking seriously when packing.

Villages that work the land on the way up

The lower slopes of the trek pass through a string of Berber villages, Aremd chief among them, built from the same rust-brown stone as the mountainside around them and terraced with small fields of barley, walnut and apple that have been worked, in broadly the same way, for generations. Mules rather than vehicles still do much of the heavy carrying on these paths, a practical necessity given the terrain rather than a performance for visitors, and the contrast between this working mountain economy and the tourist infrastructure of Marrakech, less than two hours away by road, is one of the more striking things about the walk.

A shorter version of the same walk

Not every visitor wants, or has the days for, the full summit attempt. A shorter long-weekend version of the same route exists, walking into the Imlil valley and up towards the mountain without necessarily completing the final ascent, which still delivers the villages, the terraces and a serious taste of the High Atlas landscape without the early alpine start and the altitude gain of the last stretch. It is a sensible option for anyone unsure how their legs, or their head for altitude, will cope with the full climb.

What the summit actually gives you

The view from the top, on a clear day, takes in a genuinely large stretch of southern Morocco: the folds of the High Atlas running away in both directions, and, in the other direction, a hazy suggestion of the plains that eventually give way to the Sahara. It is not a view many visitors to Marrakech expect to find within reach of a city break, which is part of why the trek has built such a loyal following among travellers who came to Morocco for the souks and left having also stood, however briefly, at the highest point in North Africa.

When to go

Toubkal can be walked for much of the year, but conditions vary considerably by season. Spring and autumn offer the most reliable combination of clear paths and manageable weather; winter brings serious snow and ice to the upper mountain, requiring crampons and considerably more mountaineering experience than the standard summer route; and high summer, while snow-free, can be uncomfortably hot on the lower approach even if the summit stays cool. A guide, who every organised trek provides, is not a formality here: the terrain above Imlil is remote enough that local knowledge of the route and the weather genuinely matters, and mountain guiding in the region is a long-established, licensed profession rather than an informal arrangement.