M'Goun
Traverse
The wild heart of the High Atlas, on foot.
M'Goun 4,071 m · Morocco
The trek
The Happy Valley.
The 4,071 m ridge above it.
Two hours of piste beyond the last tarmac, the Ait Bouguemez valley opens: barley terraces, walnut groves, and a chain of earthen villages most maps still ignore. This is the trailhead. From Tabant the route climbs over the Tizi n'Ait Imi pass at 2,905 m to the Tarkeddit plateau, camps beneath the wall of the massif, and puts you on the summit of Ighil M'Goun, 4,071 m, the highest point in Morocco outside the Toubkal group, by mid-morning of day four.
8 to 14 participants. Certified High Atlas guides, a full mule caravan carrying camp, a mountain cook. Two nights under canvas at altitude, two nights in village gites, three nights in a Marrakech riad to open and close the week. June to September only: the season when the snow has left the ridge and the shepherds are up on the plateau.
Apply for the M'Goun Traverse“Toubkal has the altitude record. M'Goun has the silence, the shepherds, and the longest ridge in North Africa.”
The M'Goun high route
Ait Bouguemez, the Happy Valley
Mule caravan on the traverse
The experience
What awaits you
The traverse
A genuine crossing, not an out-and-back: from the Ait Bouguemez valley over the Tizi n'Ait Imi to the Tarkeddit plateau and out through the Tessaout headwaters. Each camp is a day further from the road.
Summit day: 4,071 m
Ighil M'Goun by its normal route: a pre-dawn start, a long scree ridge, and the second-highest massif in North Africa without ropes or crampons. Views run from Toubkal to the Sahara haze.
Berber valley life
The Ait Bouguemez is farmed as it has been for a thousand years. Walk between granaries and walnut groves, share mint tea in family homes, sleep in village gites on the first and last mountain nights.
Mule caravan camps
Muleteers carry tents, kitchen and duffels; you carry a day pack. Evening camps on the Tarkeddit plateau at 2,900 m, with the wall of the massif turning red at sunset.
Mountain rivers
Cold plunge as the mountains intended it: snowmelt pools in the Tessaout headwaters after the summit day. Brief, bracing, unforgettable.
Riad recovery
The week closes where it began, in a Marrakech riad: full hammam ceremony, deep tissue massage, one slow evening in the medina before departure.
Day by day
Eight days across the massif.
Arrival Marrakech
Private transfer from Marrakech Menara to the riad. Welcome dinner, kit check and route briefing with the mountain guide.
To the Happy Valley
4x4 transfer to the Ait Bouguemez valley (4 hours). Acclimatisation walk between villages and granaries. Night in a Berber gite in Tabant.
Tizi n'Ait Imi, 2,905 m
First full trekking day: shepherd trails to the pass, then across to the Tarkeddit plateau. First high camp at 2,900 m.
Summit day, 4,071 m
Pre-dawn start for Ighil M'Goun by the normal route. Long scree ridge, summit by mid-morning, descent back to camp.
Tessaout headwaters
Descend the wild southern side of the massif into the Tessaout valley. Snowmelt river pools, shepherd azibs. Night in camp or village gite.
Out of the mountains
Final valley stage to the roadhead. 4x4 back to Marrakech, arrival by early evening. First recovery: hammam.
Marrakech recovery
Slow morning. Deep tissue massage, medina walk, farewell dinner on the riad roof.
Departure
Breakfast and transfer to Marrakech Menara. Or extend: ask about additional nights in Marrakech.
Included
Everything.
- 7 nights accommodation (Marrakech riad 3, village gites 2, high camps 2)
- Certified High Atlas mountain guide throughout
- Full mule caravan: muleteers, camp crew and mountain cook
- All meals on trek and in Marrakech
- Private 4x4 transfers Marrakech to Ait Bouguemez and Tessaout to Marrakech
- Full camp equipment (tents, mattresses, mess tent)
- Hammam ceremony and one deep tissue massage
- Trek permits and guide fees
- Single supplement on request
- The Umnya kit: hand-woven fouta, engraved flask, and the piece made for this retreat
Getting there
How to arrive.
Fly into Marrakech Menara (RAK). Casablanca Mohammed V (CMN) works for connecting flights. Day 2 is a private 4x4 transfer to the Ait Bouguemez valley, around 4 hours through the Azilal foothills, included.
The trek is a genuine point-to-point crossing: vehicles meet the group at the Tessaout roadhead on day 6 for the return to Marrakech. No technical climbing, but sure feet and solid fitness are required: two consecutive days above 3,000 m with 900 to 1,100 m of daily ascent.
Nearest airports
These weeks run with a partner
This retreat is not on open sale. We build it with a studio, a club or a clinic that brings its own group, and we open a date around their season rather than ours. Tell us who you would bring and when, and we will come back with a week.
Design this together→2027 Season
Receive the full programme
8 days · 8 to 14 guests · Morocco. We send the itinerary, dates and availability by return.
No newsletters. One email with the programme, nothing more.
Trekking in Morocco
One country, five massifs, a trek for every season.
From the 4,000 m summits of the High Atlas to the volcanic towers of the Anti-Atlas and the dunes of Erg Chigaga, the Umnya trekking collection covers Morocco year-round. Start with the guide, then pick your season.
Atlas Mountains Retreat
Imlil & Toubkal · Sep to May
Trekking & Recovery
Marrakech & High Atlas · September
Sirwa Saffron Trek
Anti-Atlas · Saffron harvest, Oct to Nov
Saghro Winter Trek
Jebel Saghro · Winter sun, Oct to Apr
Trekking with the Nomads
Erg Chigaga, Sahara · Oct to Apr
Rif Mountain Trail
Chefchaouen · October & May
Where you stay
Superior accommodation, chosen on the ground by our own experts.
Nothing on this site was booked from a catalogue. Every riad, camp, kasbah and guesthouse was found, visited and slept in by one of our experts before it was ever offered to a guest. The standard is superior throughout, and the reason is practical: after a day of walking, surfing or altitude, comfort is not a luxury, it is what makes the next day possible.
Visited before it is offered
Our team travels the country year-round. If one of us has not slept there, it does not go into a programme.
Original, never generic
Private riads, our own exclusive-use camp in the dunes, restored family kasbahs, guesthouses in Berber villages. Places you cannot book from a screen.
Comfort as a working tool
Real beds, hot water, quiet rooms, proper food. Recovery is part of the programme, not an afterthought.
Groups & circles
Coming as a group?
Six of you or more, and the whole retreat can be arranged around your circle. Tell us the size and the dates, and we prepare a proposal for you.
Request a group proposal→A departure for your circle alone
A private date set aside for your group, at the pace and in the season that suit you.
One group at a time, never mixed
You are never placed among strangers. The camp, the table and the guides are yours.
Group rate and privatisation on request
For six guests or more we prepare a tailored proposal. Simply ask.
The ridge is long. The season is short.
Submit your application. We respond within 48 hours.
Apply for the M'Goun Traverse