Must be MS8. Can you provide more information why it is closed - political reason or weather etc? Also do you know if the routes between Foum Zguid and Taconite (MS7) are still open (Soutt East from Foum Zguid)?
Are you currently in the region? if yes any update on other routes?

Sounds about right. Closed for security. We've just spent a few day travelling from Tantan to Erfoud. Ms 7 Foum Zguid to Mhamid is open as are the pistes east to Erfoud.

A friend who was in the region at the end of September reported the area was open when he was there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry the point we were blocked wasn't ms8 however I was turned back on Ms8 last year.

The point we got turned back was further west. I'll dig out the coords when we get a break from crossing the atlas


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All done in LR Defender.All map ref are Reise 1:1,000,000.All route refs are to Chris Scott's bibl....er,handbook

Tafroute to Taraoudant.
There is a good sealed road dropping down from Ait Abdullah approx 20km East of Tafraoute on the R106.It arrives at the new N10 approx 6km West of Taraoudant. On the Reisemap this only shows as a series of unconnected tracks at best. It is approx 120km and took about 3 hrs.Views over Sous Valley are tremendous.
This means that it is possible to do a loop run Tafraoute-Taraoudant-Igherm-Tafraoute in a long day or,use the T's as bases and explore other tracks in the area.

MS2 Zagora-Tazzarine.
Road sealed 50% coming from Tazzarine so,will probably be totally sealed by next year.

MA7 Taliouine - Tazenacht
Very beautiful and quiet run but the middle third runs thro an wild Oued and the sealed road is shot to pieces at all crossings.Local light bikes and Berlingos getting through on some quite rough repairs but expect delays after rain while the shovels get out and repair the repairs.

Agdz-Tasla-Bleida-Zagora
Follow R108 out of Agdz towards tazenacht. After Tasla there is a LH turn signposted Bleida.This is a high plateau route through a mining area on a sealed road in poor condition up to the main mine at Bleida(no signs but the road ends there anyway).From here the road on the Reisemap does not exist but if you wend your way around the tailings dam on the South side of the mine you end up in a fabulous wadi run that takes you down to the N12 at Bou Rbia. Great escarpment rim run aswell. This wadi run may need a reverse for others in places but I would say was doable on big bikes unless after rain.

MH1-MH11 Goulmima-Dades Loop
Oued Gheris was in spate after rain so this run was fabulously beautiful especially with the Berber busy with harvest. All the concrete oued fords were in good nick except for one(which is breaking up) where I waited while a minibus crossed in case he needed help.I heard from a Swiss biker in camp that evening that he had turned back there two up on a big BMW.The water was up to his front hub.
The run up to Dades was stunning as was the white knuckle down the gorge itself. Probably the best run of the trip for us.

MH4-5 Tinehir-Iknioun-Tinehir

A nice loop run.Road sealed as far as Iknioun then a good graded piste back to Tinehir.

Generally
We arrived at Taouz for the MS6 run at the end of Sept during heavy rains. The road from Erfoud through Rissani and Merzouga was heavily flooded and when we reached taouz we were advised by the locals that the route across Oued Rheris was unpassable. We spent a nice hour with The Pidgeons du Sable and went on through El Jorf.
Arrived at Mhamid and were told Lac Iriki was dry but we travel on our own so did not do it this time.

Hope this helps.Happy trails.

Thanks to Tim Callis and his knowledge base. The gas POI's were excellent.

Morocco Knowledgebase

Recently I rode along MH7 (from Askaoun to Anezal). The piste is quite heavily eroded in at least two spots near the top. There are ways to get around, but not easily (very steep and narrow). In it's current state it would not be passable by a 2WD and some 4WDs may struggle. I was just about able to get past on my F650GS, but I wouldn't want to do it on anything heavier. Lighter bikes should manage fine.

Coords for the Army Checkpoints we encountered. At all we were turned back except the last when we were heading north, if you were travelling south I'd expect to be turned back

N29.53498 W7.85198
N29.59578 W7.75828
N29.71826 W7.65983

Hi all

Just to let you guys know, finished this week routes MS4,MS12,MS11 ,all without any problem.Got lovely weather, so no complains.

About the route MS11, going from Merzouga to Aufuss, there a climb to be negotiated, I don't think a truck could fit in the narrow parts or hairpins. Also found this route hard after the climb, with lots of stones, forcing me to drive really slow ( 8~10 kph ) .


that's the end of my travel this year, if any of you want to see some pictures please visit my blog.

Tito

__________________
http://clubman1.blogspot.pt

Just got this:

" … about two weeks ago I was biking the MH1 route through the High Atlas in Morocco as described in your guidebook. A few km before reaching the gite in Tagoudit at km 91.5 the road was washed away for about half a kilometer. So we biked the riverbed and crossed the stream a couple of times...

Just heard that MW3 - 230km is all sealed but still a great route.

Look forward to doing that later.

I've bought my 2 season sleeping bag after you said it was hot! Enjoying the delight of Hotel Dreamland in Fnideq ATM.

When I did MH1 last year 2 campers left Timnay the same morning as me. I met them again at the junction at Tagoudit and we all ended up in Imichil that night.

I remembering wondering where they had been between Timnay and there.

Looking at my maps there's no way east to Midelt you I can only assume they took the loop you mention


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. Would have gone back again today, but it's all show and icy and freezing winds now. Don't fancy the 450-m climb to get back over there from here.

Yesterday I'm sure I also saw a couple of bikes resting by the roadside (one bike like mine), and they didn't have the aura or splattered dirt of having just bashed along that oued.
Back at Agoudim I did zoom out the Garmin to see if anything else was doing, but looked in the wrong area. I assumed the side road to Tagoudit was just a village access track. They may even have been a crude sign.
And back at Imilchil servo last night, they all insisted it's tout gourdronee to Tounfite.

Funny how the clues all slot in place afterwards.
Hasty assumptions: the nemesis of good nav!

Two season bag will be fine - as long as one of the seasons is 'winter' ;-)
Hard to believe it was 35°C in Assa 2 weeks ago.

Hi Chris/Mark,

I drove MH1 east-west in October. We got to the start of the gorge and the track was completely gone following a huge landslide. No even a moto would have got through. We took the eastern arc that rejoins at the river crossing near Tagoudit as you described. It's a good track and only cost us an extra 20 mins.

The westerly route over Jebel Sahro had been badly hit in places. Large cubes of sharp basalt had slid onto the track. Took my eye of the ball for a second and got my first ever BFG puncture - slice through the sidewall...

Happy trails,

Peter

__________________
Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

I did make a habit last autumn of ignoring every possible sign there was trouble ahead a plowing on regardless.

Just arrived in Essaouira, the north has had god almight rain today and fresh snow around Tetouan by the looks of it. Felt sorry for the bikes on the motorway heading into it. If your south don't rush north just yet

Anyone tried MH5 recently? I looked at the end last year and decided against it, but something makes me want to try again

Thanks for the clarification Peter. Did the eastern arc - all sealed and straightforward.
Coming from the north, 3.4km after Jaffar T junction, turn SW off the light coloured road onto darker tarmac.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@32.48.../data=!3m1!1e3
No signs (yet?).
Deepish ford soon (same rogue river), then over the hills.

Met another poor soul on a heavily loaded bike who blundered into the gorge from hell from the south end like me. Luckily some Berber kids put him right (and helped pick up his bike) before he got too far.

MH5 - "it'll be rude" as they told us once in the Yukon ;-)

Going to come up with a new name or better clarification for these locally unused and abandoned stages between the last village on one side, and the next on the other.
Good to know the diff as lack of regular use/maintenance makes things much harder. As we found on Jebel Timouka above issil the other year.