Trekking in the Sahara

Sahara Desert

Best for a real adventure

By Sarah Gilbert

M’hamid is the last Moroccan outpost before the Algerian border, where the road dissolves into sand and the desert takes over. It’s the jumping-off point for the dramatic dunes of Erg Chigaga, 60 kilometres to the west – around two hours by 4x4, or a thrilling three day trek by camel.

Erg Chigaga, Morocco’s longest and highest sand sea, ripples for around 40 kilometres with dunes topping 300m. It’s wilder and less visited than Erg Chebbi, and its camps are more isolated, but the off-road journey to get there is more expensive. On the way, there are stops at panoramic viewpoints and perhaps a mint tea break with desert nomads outside their goat-hair tent.

From your campsite, you can trek on foot or by camel, scramble up and sandboard down a towering dune, and savour the sunset and stellar desert views before stargazing from a carpet spread across the sand and music around the campfire. Look out for nocturnal wildlife: the fennec, with its enormous ears, is the smallest fox species, and sand cats are the only desert-dwelling felines. On a morning trek, your guide will point out its tiny tracks zigzagging across the dunes.

Sahara Desert

For more accessible trekking

By Sarah Gilbert

The village of Merzouga has accommodation to suit all budgets, and you can arrange everything from a sunset camel safari to sandboarding, quad biking, overnight camping and longer treks.

Erg Chebbi is Morocco’s most accessible stretch of Sahara, with dunes around 22 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide, reaching lofty heights of 160m in places. It is especially striking at sunset, turning from orange to pink and purple as the night sky glitters with stars. Then you might tuck into madfouna, or ‘Berber pizza’, a stuffed flatbread baked in a fire pit buried in the sand, before a campfire drumming session.

Campsites can be just 15 minutes from Merzouga by 4x4 or a couple of hours by camel. The downsides: convoys of vehicles dropping off people and supplies in high season, quad bikes overtaking camel caravans and being across a dune from another camp. If you want more solitude, choose your camp carefully or go out of season.

For a real hidden gem, the village of Khamlia, six kilometres south of Merzouga, is home to Dar Gnaoua, where musicians – including the renowned Les Pigeons du Sable – celebrate their sub-Saharan African roots, performing to an enthusiastic crowd, shaking krakebs (metal castanets) and keeping their hypnotic beat on tbel drums.

Ouarzazate

Explore Morocco’s desert culture

By Sarah Gilbert

Dubbed ‘the door to the desert’, Ouarzazate is a good stopover between Marrakech and the Sahara. It was a hub for merchants who met to trade at the sprawling Taourirt Kasbah. Today, it’s known as ‘Morocco’s Hollywood’ for its star turns in Gladiator, among other blockbusters produced at the city’s Atlas Studios – cinephiles can tour the sets.

Nearby, the UNESCO-protected Ait Benhaddou has been the setting for several cinematic and small-screen epics. I like to arrive at the 11th-century hilltop citadel for sunset or sunrise when it’s bathed in a golden glow – the crowds are smaller at this time, too. Climb to its highest point for panoramic views worthy of Game of Thrones.

From Ouarzazate, you can drive south along the N9 to M’hamid through the scenic Draa River valley. It will take around four hours without stops, but I’d recommend dropping in on dusty towns and villages where the way of life has barely changed.

Sahara Desert

Traditional markets in Zagora

By Sarah Gilbert

The oasis town of Zagora sits on the edge of the desert, and on its iconic and much-copied sign, a blue-turbaned nomad proclaims that you’re only 52 days from Timbuktu – by camel, that is.

Zagora hosts one of the biggest markets in the south on Wednesdays and Sundays, where alongside ubiquitous pyramids of spices and succulent dates from its palm groves, you’ll find people bartering over everything from car parts to still-clucking chickens.

For a greater understanding of desert culture, I’d recommend the museum in the well-preserved 16th-century Ksar Tissergate that documents the customs and traditions of the Draa Valley, from rustic tools to extravagant wedding costumes.

Zagora has plenty of stylish guesthouses, and while its rocky desert lacks the dramatic dunes of M’hamid, 90 minutes further south, it has an austere charm which you can explore by 4x4, quad bike, camel and on foot.

Sahara Desert

The Sahara’s hidden gem

By Sarah Gilbert

South of the Dades Valley, N’kob feels like a well-kept secret. The ‘village of 45 kasbahs’ is the capital of the semi-nomadic Ait Atta tribe, and some families still follow the seasonal migration, departing in spring for greener pastures to the north.

N’kob is the southern gateway to the Jebel Saghro massif. Sitting between the High Atlas and the Sahara, rising to 2800m, the ‘Mountain of Drought’, dominates this starkly beautiful range, with its high-altitude desert-scapes, otherworldly rock formations and gaping canyons.

The Jebel Saghro Loop is an off-the-beaten-path five-day trek that starts near Boumalne Dades and ends at Kalaat M’Gouna, passing through remote hamlets and palm groves, crisscrossing mule tracks and dry river beds. Guides are optional and it makes an ideal winter trek when other Moroccan ranges are covered in snow.

From N’kob there’s a three-day loop, or you can traverse the massif from south to north, scale Jebel Saghro, along with numerous shorter treks, including to the striking rock pinnacles of Bab n’Ali.