The Berber name for the Atlas Mountains is “Mountains of Mountains”. Evidently so, as the Moroccan Atlas ranges are home to North Africa’s highest point, Jebel Toubkal, along with six other true summits above 4000m (but some modern references may note ten peaks above 4000m). The upper reaches of the Atlas are covered in some snow for most of the year and offer dramatic views from afar, especially during the clear light conditions in winter months.

The Atlas ranges (Middle, High, Anti) broadly dissect Morocco in two, north-east to south-west, and run for some 1500km in length, albeit not in a continuous chain. The High Atlas alone is approx. 700km long reaching from the Algerian border to the Atlantic coast. North Africa’s highest summit was only first climbed in 1923 and the National Park of the Jebel Toubkal massif, created in 1942, is the highest section of the Atlas. The Toubkal massif is just 90mins drive from Marrakech. All but one of Morocco’s 4000m peaks are within this region.

The remaining 4000m peak, Jebel Mgoun the country’s third highest summit, is located in the Central High Atlas. There are numerous trailheads to access Jebel Mgoun; e.g. the picturesque Ait Bougmez valley is 4 hours drive, and the Mgoun Valley (the Valley of Roses) 6 hours drive from Marrakech. The Mgoun massif is far more off the beaten path than the Toubkal massif and, given the many open access routes to the summit, from the North and South sides, it offers a great variety of remote altitude trekking.