Hi, I am intending to head South through Spain to Morocco starting 10th September (Portsmouth to Santander then Algeciras to Tanger Med). I am riding a KTM 1090R and this will be my first major trip on the bike, first visit to Morocco and first time off road on an adventure style bike. I have done some off road stuff on lighter trail bikes and quite a bit of road touring on an adventure style bike historically but not anything like I am expecting to find in Morocco.
I would really appreciate suggestions on what I should look to do in around 10 days in Morocco and ideally including relatively easy off road stuff.
I am mindful that temperatures are still likely to be high in mid September so maybe some higher routes would be good and nothing too severe given my lack of experience and that I am riding solo.
I have a Garmin satnav with Moroccan maps loaded but, so far, have been unable to find a source of gpx routes for any trails.
I have Chris Scott's excellent book Morocco Overland and several paper maps of Morocco.
If necessary I think I can work from a combination of maps and the guidebook and I have looked at Tim Cullis's excellent Morocco forum and have downloaded route waypoints for the Morocco Overland routes (not sure where from now but there are around four waypoints for each route including start and finish points and a couple of intermediate points). At a pinch I can work from these so if there are recommended routes from Chris's book that would be very helpful.
As a newby to this any help would very much be appreciated.

Both Spain and Morocco are likely to be hot. Thoroughly soak your riding gear with water it it gets too much for you, it's then like riding with a built-in refrigerator.

An easy one for you to try in the north of Morocco is just south of Azrou and I've done a quick map.

Firstly you could visit the wild monkeys and the 'ski resort inside a volcano' at Mischlfen, see at my write-up and map on TripAdvisor

(see note below **)

From there' carry on south on the N13 for a short distance and you will see Jebel Hebri (another volcano) on the east side of the road. Shortly afterwards take the track to the right heading south west. Initially this is stony but it improves. Look out for volcanic vents either side of the tracks. After a while you enter the cedar forest. Some photos: M22 Volcanic Vents and Cedars

There's a network of tracks in this area, just keep heading south west or south and you'll eventually reach tarmac again. Or head for Source Oum er Rbia, see LookLex

**Note from above


In this 'Olaf' map, yellow and orange are tarmac, uncoloured are pistes (tracks). So you could potentially go apes1 to apes3 then cross country to Mischlifen

You can see on the map that after visiting Mischlifen you could head north east for about 800m and take a track that loops round the back of the caldera, then heads off south west towards Jebel Hebri. You can see some pics of this area at M21 Monkeys, Volcanos and Yes

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Cheers Tim, Jason at The KTM Centre in Hemel said you'd be the man to ask!

This will certainly be on my to-do list, getting the maps out as we speak....

Can I ask Tim, where you refer to routes M21 and M22, I assume these are the same as referred to in Morocco-knowledgebase? What I am struggling with is that the first thread in each regional sub-forum headed, for example, M00 Middle Atlas - Routes and Map doesn't have any maps (or indeed routes!). Therefore, although I am enjoying the pictures, I have no idea where they are or where the routes go.

Am I missing something obvious?

If you have the Garmin's map, that is like hundreds of gpx routes on a plate.
Study them on Base Camp before you leave to get ideas, make a rough plan, then enjoy watching it fall to pieces ;-)
Most of Morocco Overland's routes, and many many more (too many in places) are on that map or the similar free ones, but once on a piste you'll find a tracklog redundant.

With that map you can just wander at will and explore within your bike's range.

Another good spot to explore is the High Atlas between Demnate and Imilchil. Roads up to 9000'. South of the HA it will of course be baking.

I must say I've also never unravelled Tim's system. A huge resource with lots of pix and route descriptions - but no maps to locate them (that I can find).
I assumed one has to sign up or something to see or download a special map.
I'm sure we're both missing something obvious.

It helps to treat first trips as a recce.
You won't do half as much as you planned but you'll have a much better idea for next time.

Ha! Well, I'm glad it's not just me!
I have both the Olaf Topo map and Garmin's overpriced Morocco offering (decent city/town street mapping, to be fair - though that's not why I'm going....) and, as you say plenty of tracks marked. Most of these seem to transfer over to the actual Garmin Zumo gps map as well, though trying to route plan on a gps screen is pretty hopeless.
Obviously can't take the desktop computer with me and Basecamp doesn't have an iPad compatible version so I have bought a cheap Android tablet which I will try loading the maps on for route planning.
I might try printing out a few A4 local maps from Basecamp with the tracks highlighted and focussing on just a couple of areas in the middle and high Atlas rather than try the scatter gun approach. As you say, first time out best not to try to be too ambitious!

Don't dis the 20-quid Garmin Topo ;-) - it used to be worse, cover less and cost over £100!
I'm not technically curious enough to get the most from OSM-like GPS mapping because for years I simply used GPS units to record routes, not follow them (there was nothing to follow except waypoints; screens were matchbox sized and no Mac s/w).
But I was a little amazed on my last Morocco trip to be able to draw, download and install a kml off Google into my Montana in a hotel room the night before without needing to call the Samaritans, and in places follow roads and tracks almost like a satnav back home.
Could be wrong, but I think this is all unusually seamless because it's Garmin map, software and hardware, but it has become so much easier now that it's actually worth doing (and spending 20 quid).

You definitely don't want to route plan on a GPS screen. That will drive you nuts.
You need to have a vague idea where you're going before you get there.
By route planning I mean doing the research at home with a cup of tea, not trackside in 35°C with 17 kids staring at you.
Hours and hours spent on Google [Earth] and your Topo map on Base Camp are never wasted and are a great way to get a feel for an area.
The more you do at home the fewer surprises on the trail.

Printing out A4s is a good idea but once out there you'll be surprised just how easy it is, nav wise, because tracks are so clear.
And if you don't feel good, just turn back. Morocco distances are short by Saharan standards and your 1090R will eat it all up.

More important is managing the heat, the fuel and water range, your own energy levels and the fact that you're alone.

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Adventure Motorcycling Handbook 8 • Morocco Overland 3 • Overlanders Handbook 2 • Twit

The knowledgebase is an unfinished project, might get done eventually...

Many of the routes I documented with photos were the result of 'I wonder where that track goes," and the one I suggested is a good example, you can spend all day if you wish exploring tracks in this area. I invariably ride solo with luggage.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Hi March Hare and others
I also am off to Morocco in September on my little XR400. It is my first trip and will be for a month (19/9 - 22/10). I have places I want to visit and tracks/pistes I want to ride but still not good with GPS. I have a Garmin 64s. I have loaded GPX files onto Olaf topo, there is no track shown, just a start point a few way points and a finish location. Is that correct, and I just head for the way points? I realise I sound quite ill prepared but this is the final stage of a trip that has been in the planning for sometime and I thought the GPS would be the easiest bit, it turns out I was wrong and now I'm flapping a little. If all else fails I will just stick to maps and roads but that won't be as much fun I'm sure.
Anyway, thanks to you all for any help and safe riding March Hare.
Ben

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To judge a man by his lowest ebb or deed is to judge the ocean by just one wave

Hi Ben, flap ye not.
If by .gpx you mean the book's routes – now all updated with edition 3 – then the key waypoints are all you need to get going alongside the book's description. Once on a trail, Olaf (or similar) are highly recommended as they provide a tracklog (continuous line) to follow, aided by Tim's detailed pictorial descriptions (if you can match up the routes).
But most of the time you will simply rely your eyeballs and other senses to keep on track. Imo, people get too fixated on gpx and tracklogs, but if you're going somewhere new and have little nav background, aome apprehension is understandable.
Olaf + key waypoints are just a helpful reassurance. Once you get in the swing of things you'll need them less and less, and within a couple of trips the same goes for the guidebook too.

A 64S is rather a small-screened unit, even if it is colour. Until I bought an expensive Montana I used cheap, used 5-inch Nuvi satnavs from 50 quid alongside my GPS60. Its easier to read but a bit fragile under a hammering and iirc you have to zoom right in to before secondary Olaf routes become visible. It took me years before I realised that, but I still managed to do what I did.

Depending on where you go and what you do, I think it may be the heat which holds you back, rather than insufficient GPS data. If it ever doesn't feel good for whatever reason, just turn back. Riding alone, I did that a couple of times last March. Too much GPS can lead you into trouble, if you disregard other factors.

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Adventure Motorcycling Handbook 8 • Morocco Overland 3 • Overlanders Handbook 2 • Twit

Chris.
Thanks so much. I am concerned about the heat as I understand they are suffering quite badly at the moment, but I will be taking plenty of water each day and have filtering equipment should I need it. As ever your advice is gratefully received. I don't know if you are attending the overland event near Oxford, if you are, I look forward to speaking to you there.
Happy trails. Ben

__________________
To judge a man by his lowest ebb or deed is to judge the ocean by just one wave

If it's 44 (or whatever) in Sardinia at the moment, it won't be much less south of the High Atlas in a month.

These below or similar are vital, imo.
Nice flavours make you more inclined to drink.
1 tube (£3.50) of 20 tabs makes 10L in hot conditions.
Try Wiggle
More compact/less hassle than 8 teaspoons of sugar + half a teaspoon of salt per litre, but that works fine too I've found.

As Tim mentioned, soaking a sweatshirt can really help.
If you can bear it, I'd then do up the jacket to slow down the evaporation, but you need some to get the cooling effect.

You have spurred me on to update the neglected MO .gpxs with more legible icons as below.
When I first did them in 2009 software (or I) was a bit rudimentary.
Edit: now all done, help yourself.

Won't be at Oxford, but doing ATFF in London next weekend.

Attached Thumbnails

 

 

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Adventure Motorcycling Handbook 8 • Morocco Overland 3 • Overlanders Handbook 2 • Twit

Ben, I am hoping to be at Oxford so if you fancy a we can do a "blind leading the blind" brainstorm! I should be on a KTM 1090R pretty much straight out of the showroom so I think I have quite a lot to learn!
Sounds like our trips may overlap to some extent so maybe we can hatch a cunning plan....

I did the shortcut with the red arrow.

Found the ascent a bit of a handful on my TT. The fact that my luggage was top-heavy and i didn't air my tires down nor remove my Airhawk probably didn't make it better