Lake Iriqui National Park

Iriqui was created as a national park in 1994 over about 123,000 hectares of the plain between the Draa and the Anti-Atlas, and its centre is a lake bed that is usually dry - a flat white expanse of cracked clay with mirages on it that vehicles drive straight across. In years when the Draa runs strongly enough and the rains are heavy, water reaches it and it becomes a shallow lake, at which point flamingos and waterfowl appear in a place that had nothing on it a month earlier; this has happened only a handful of times in recent decades, most notably after exceptional rain. The park also holds dune country, acacia stands, and reintroduced populations of addax, scimitar-horned oryx and dorcas gazelle in a fenced enclosure. The crossing between Foum Zguid and M'Hamid is the standard way through and is a full day of piste with a guide.

What you actually see

• A dry lake bed - flat cracked clay driven straight across, with mirages.
• Rare flooding - water and flamingos in the years the Draa reaches it.
• Reintroduced antelope - addax, oryx and gazelle in a fenced enclosure.
• The crossing - a full day of piste between Foum Zguid and M'Hamid.

When to go

October to April. Two days, taking the crossing with a guide.

Honest expectations

The lake is dry in almost all years - do not travel expecting water. The crossing needs four-wheel drive and a guide; there are no marked tracks and no services. Antelope are in an enclosure, not free-ranging. Summer here is lethal.

Nearby

M'Hamid is east; Foum Zguid and Tazenakht are west.