Jebel M'Goun

M'Goun reaches 4,071 metres and is the highest point of the Central High Atlas, the third-highest peak of the Atlas after Toubkal and Ouanoukrim, but the mountain is nothing like it: instead of a rocky cone it is a long undulating summit ridge of several kilometres above 3,800 metres, walked rather than climbed, with no technical difficulty in summer and enormous exposure to weather. The standard approach is from the Bou Guemez valley - green, terraced, with mud-built villages, and reachable by road - climbing over passes to high pastures where transhumant herders bring flocks in summer and live in stone shelters. Below the massif on the southern side the M'Goun gorges cut down towards Kelaat M'Gouna, and the classic trek walks over the mountain and down them, wading the river repeatedly for a day. Mules carry the loads and guides are effectively required; both are arranged in Tabant.

Highlights

• A four-thousand-metre ridge - several kilometres of summit walked rather than climbed.
• The Bou Guemez - a green terraced valley of mud villages as the approach.
• Summer pastures - herders and stone shelters on the high ground.
• The M'Goun gorges - a river descent on the southern side, waded repeatedly.

When to go

June to October; snow closes the passes outside that. Four to six days.

Good to know

This is a multi-day trek at altitude with no facilities - guides and mules are effectively required and are arranged in Tabant. Weather on the ridge changes fast and there is no shelter. The gorge descent involves repeated wading and cannot be done in high water. Altitude affects people at 4,000 metres.

Nearby

The Bou Guemez valley is north; Kelaat M'Gouna and the Rose Valley are south.

Key facts