No matter which road you take from Ouarzazate, you will come upon marvels of Southern Morocco. Enjoy the adventure and meet the unspoiled people and their culture.
The Dadès Valley runs from Ouarzazate to Boumaine. It is dry and lined with kasbahs and unique fortified villages. From time to time, you must leave the road and discover traditional Berber adobe houses. Take a cool break at the Skoura palm grove. After leaving Tinghir you arrive at the magnificent Todra Gorge. It narrows as its faces tower higher and higher (up to 300m) above your head. A trail, passing through the Dadès Gorge, leads to Boumalne. Depending on the lighting the rocks seem to be red, pink or mauve. The Sahro djebel (mountain) is situated south of Boumalne where one can observe some of the 150 varieties of birds already spotted in the Valley of the Birds.
By continuing your trip along the Dadès, you pass through the rose country, El Kelaât M'Gouna, where rose water, so vital for complexions, is made. In May, the rose has the place of honor in a three-day festival held throughout the area. Further on, the Dadès Gorge opens up, and then the Todra Gorge whose cliffs can be 300m high.
The Drâa Valley extending for almost 200km towards the South irrigates a narrow oasis where dates and henna grow. The Tissergate ksar (fort), one of the ksour (forts) which line the valley, houses a museum of arts and traditions in which many everyday articles and Berber craftwork are exhibited.
M'Hamid is the starting point for trips into the Sahara. Two high dunes in Tinfou give a foretaste of the desert. For the real thing continue west from Tinfou to the Chigaga dunes which extend for 150km. One of which can reach a height of 150m.