Jebel Kissane

Jbel Kissane rises in the middle of the Draa valley east of the town of Agdz, in Zagora Province, and its highest summit reaches 1,485 m (4,872 ft), about 500 m (1,640 ft) above Agdz and the valley. It is a small rocky range of the Anti-Atlas with a perched syncline, about 14 km (8.7 mi) long and up to about 1.8 km (1.1 mi) wide, its slopes strewn with scree; two ridges on its top are cut by a ravine in the middle, and of its several peaks the highest stands at the western end. Its shape dominates the landscape east of Agdz and the views from villages such as Tamnougalt, Ouliz, Taliouine and Afra. Agdz, whose name means resting place, lies on the old caravan route from Marrakesh to Timbuktu, and the road from Ouarzazate reaches it over the Tinifift pass.

Background

Jbel Kissane is a mountain of the Anti-Atlas in the Drâa-Tafilalet region of south-eastern Morocco, beside the Draa valley. Its name means glasses in Arabic, from a likeness to the tea glasses set behind a teapot in the Moroccan way of serving tea. The mountain is a small rocky range with a synclinal structure, 14 km long and up to about 1.8 km wide; a ravine splits the two ridges on its top, and the highest of its peaks, at the western end, reaches 1485 m. Its bare rock dominates the view east of Agdz and shifts between pink, salmon and violet with the light.

Source: Wikipedia, "Jbel Kissane"

Highlights

• The changing colours - bare rock that turns pink, salmon or violet with the angle of the sun and the time of day.
• The twin ridges - two ridges on the top divided by a ravine, with the highest summit, 1,485 m (4,872 ft), at the western end.
• The Taourirt kasbah - built of rammed earth on the southern flank in the early 20th century for the Glaoui clan of Telouet.
• The climb - up scree-covered slopes from Tamnougalt or other villages reached by car, in 2 to 3 hours.

When to go

The articles name no season. The colour of the bare rock changes through the day with the angle of the sunlight, from pink to salmon and violet.

Before you go

Heights differ: 1,485 m (4,872 ft) in most accounts and 1,531 m (5,023 ft) in another. The mountain is largely bare of vegetation, and one source advises taking drinking water for the climb. Kissane counts among the highest and most striking mountains of southern Morocco.

Nearby

Tamnougalt is about 6 km west-south-west, Agdz about 12 km west, Ouarzazate about 61 km west-north-west and Zagora about 63 km south-east, all in a straight line.

Key facts