The Mamora Cork Oak Forest

The Mamora is the flat cork oak forest that fills the plain inland from Rabat and Salé towards Kenitra, and it is among the largest continuous stands of cork oak in the world. The trees are widely spaced with open ground between them, so the light is bright rather than closed in, and the trunks show the dark scars where bark has been stripped for cork on a long cycle. Wild pear, gum trees and pasture are mixed in, and parts have been replanted with eucalyptus. Moroccan families come out at weekends to picnic under the oaks, and there are tracks for walking and cycling. Storks, hoopoes and birds of prey are easy to see.

What you actually see

• The cork oaks - widely spaced trees with bark stripped in long dark scars.
• The picnic clearings - open ground used by families at weekends.
• The forest tracks - sand and gravel routes for walking or cycling.
• The birdlife - storks, hoopoes and birds of prey in the open woodland.

When to go

Spring is best, when the ground is green and wildflowers come out under the trees; autumn is mild and clear. Summer is hot and dusty and the fire risk is high, so open flames are a bad idea at any time of year. Weekdays are almost empty, while Sundays bring crowds of picnickers to the roadside clearings.

Honest expectations

This is not wilderness and should not be approached as such: roads, farms, quarries and rubbish cut through it, and the forest has shrunk under pressure from grazing and building. The eucalyptus plantations are dull. There is no visitor centre, no marked trail and no map, so you drive to a clearing and walk from there. Litter after weekends is bad.

Nearby

Rabat and Salé are on the coast to the west, and the lake reserve at Sidi Bourhaba lies north near Mehdia.