possible morocco & atlas mountains route
 

Hi all im dan new to this site and still trying to find my way around it and digest some of the useful information that is floating around on it. I have used the search button to try and find what im looking for but no success so I though to post up the intended route to sound a few of the more experienced travellers to see if its possible in the time period as it hard not to be realistic and want to do everything at once! I have experience in off roading as get out at least once a month to bala & wales and have a modified Toyota surf so know what I can do and what the truck can do and how to fix her when I break her! Hehe! So have decided to go further a field than north Wales!

The route below is taken from a 4x4 tour around morocco so I guess it has been well travelled and I have used google maps to view the route and some pics along the way but don’t fully trust the photo was taken in the place it shows!

Firstly the route shown I think is on order from north east to south west then north

Secondly I will be giving about 9 days to these 4 routes as the other 5 will be getting there and back.

Finally has anyone had any experiences of these routes, things to see places to stay, still unsure where the places to stay if any are along the route or is camp in truck??

http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...0trip/mor1.jpg


http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...0trip/mor0.jpg


http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...0trip/mor2.jpg


http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/t...0trip/mor3.jpg

Thanks for any advice regarding the above!

Some of these routes are covered in Chris Scott's Morocco Overland book.

Map 1: the first part is the Cirque de Jaffar route and is a difficult technical piste. I last did it in Oct/Nov 2010 and there's some pics of a rock fall on this thread. The piste finishes roughly at point '7' on your map where a tarmac road comes in from the north east however several travellers have reported bandits at this point, so don't stop. The tarmac road heads south west towards the junction near Tounfite.

The next section of the route is a fabulous new tarmac road, very beautiful, until Anfgou (point 10) where it becomes a hardpacked balast piste until the junction with the main road. Four inexpensive gites along the second part of the route.

Map 2: the route is a piste from Agoudal to M'semir that can be technical if there's been bad weather. Otherwise tarmac. Two gites in Agoudal, one on the piste, more below M'semrir.

Map 3: the section over the Jbel Sahro is piste, check what Chris writes as I haven't done it for a couple of years. Two gites near the top.

Map 4: Ait Benhaddou to Anemiter has been substantially reengineered and was asphalted five weeks ago. Anemiter to the main road is old tarmac. Telouet kasbah is worth a visit.

Hi Tim thanks for the quick response, I have read Sahara Overland, which was very useful, however I have seen from a few threads the morocco overland is better so will give that a look! I was looking for mainly “tarmac free” piste runs but from your description the 4 runs should prove enough piste driving for one holiday. I guess they are trying to improve the infrastructure so they are laying more and more tarmac! Yeah I see from a few pics the route on map 1 gets narrow at times and winding around cliff edges. I guess the rain has washed a bit of the side away? I see the LR in the picture had a winch? I assume it would not be advisable to do that route with out one. Luckily im fitting a winch bumper as we speak. Also I see there are plenty of gites along each route so no problem there

Map 4 ; is the route now predominately tarmac. The pics from the route looked great and a good piste run but you say now it is all tarmaced?

Are the barbed wire trips intentional to hurt travellers or just to mark boundaries? I would rather be a 4x4 than on a bike if I drove into one of them??