Cirque de Jaffar

The Cirque de Jaffar is a broad amphitheatre of eroded slopes and cedar below the northern face of Jebel Ayachi, reached from Midelt by a piste that climbs out of the plain, contours round the mountain and comes into the bowl - about thirty kilometres of rough track that has been a set piece of Moroccan overland driving since the French made the route. The drive is what it is about: red and grey scree, old cedars standing individually rather than in forest, the Ayachi wall closing the south side, and Berber shelters and flocks in summer. A gite at Jaffar provides the only accommodation and food. The track continues beyond the cirque towards Ait Oufella and eventually loops back or connects onward, but the surface deteriorates and the further section should not be attempted without knowing its current state. Ayachi's ascent routes start from around here.

The landscape

• A thirty-kilometre piste - the classic rough drive out of Midelt into the bowl.
• The Ayachi wall - the mountain's northern face closing the amphitheatre.
• Standing cedars - old individual trees rather than continuous forest.
• Summer flocks - Berber shelters and grazing in the cirque.

When to go

May to October; snow closes the piste in winter. A day.

What to expect

The piste is genuinely rough and four-wheel drive is strongly advisable. There is one gite and nothing else - no fuel, water or phone coverage for much of it. Track conditions change year to year; ask in Midelt before setting off. Winter and wet weather make it impassable.

Nearby

Midelt is north; Jebel Ayachi rises directly above the cirque.