Toubkal Lodge Trekking
Lodge-to-lodge trekking out of the Kasbah du Toubkal gives you access to some of the most beautiful parts of the Atlas, remote rural communities, and sweeping other-worldly landscapes.
The well-known Kasbah du Toubkal has been doing up lodges, scattered in the hills and valleys around Imlil, which the lodge uses to put together multi-day treks beginning and ending at the Kasbah itself.
Leaving Imlil, in the company of one of the Kasbah’s excellent local hiking-guides, plus a mule-and-driver carrying a few small items for your overnight, you head off to hike up and over mountain passes and into valleys which are otherwise all but unreachable by vehicle (unless you happen to be a fearless 4×4 driver, or a donkey). The only problem with the hiking here is that it’s mostly either steep up or steep down, with little shade – there seem to be very few traverses and not much in the way of undulation. The plus side is that the scenery changes rapidly all the time, and the choppy aspect of the mountains is furiously picturesque.
The trekking lodges have been done up to the standard of the Kasbah’s best rooms; this is to say they’re very comfortable and more than adequate for an overnight. Meals are cooked on site, and you can take the whole lodge for a family or group of four to six; otherwise you share with whomever else has booked. Make the mistake of asking for ‘folklore’ and you’ll be serenaded by an enthusiastic group of Berber men dancing, chanting and banging on drums until you beg them to stop. The Berbers are highly musical (and repetitive).
The best part, though, is the access to valleys unreached by paved road, and to the communities that eke out their living there. Walking along rivers with irrigation gulleys feeding lush green walnut groves that climb the mountain sides wherever water can be made to reach them; sharing the pathway with leaping herds of goats, wandering cows, and babbling kids emerging from villages; it’s made all the more interesting by the fact that the Kasbah is highly involved locally, and strongly supportive of these rural communities in the area that they ply for touristic purposes. Your money is well spent here.
Treks range from one night to two or three out of the Kasbah. They are best arranged after one night in the Kasbah on arrival, so that you can leave early the next day; and one night in the Kasbah upon your return, so that you don’t have to head back down to Marrakech as soon as you get off the trail.
