Setti Fatma Waterfalls

Setti Fatma is where the road up the Ourika stops, about sixty-five kilometres from Marrakech, and behind the village a stream comes down a side gorge in a chain of seven falls. The first is reached in twenty to thirty minutes on a rough path with boulder-hopping and a couple of scrambles, and it has a pool and a cluster of cafes at the bottom; the rest require progressively more scrambling and most visitors stop at the first or second. Guides at the trailhead are insistent and, for the upper falls, genuinely useful. The valley below is lined with cafes built on platforms over the riverbed, which is the Ourika's signature and also its danger: a flash flood in August 1995 swept much of it away with heavy loss of life, and the riverbed remains a hazard in storms. Do not stay in the bed when rain is falling upstream.

Highlights

• Seven cascades - a chain up a side gorge, the first reached in half an hour.
• Riverbed cafes - platforms and tables built out over the water down the valley.
• A scrambling path - boulders and rough steps, harder as you go higher.
• The flood history - a 1995 flash flood that swept the valley with many deaths.

When to go

March to June for water; autumn for quiet. Half a day.

Practical notes

Flash flooding is a real and lethal risk here - leave the riverbed if rain starts upstream. Guides at the trailhead are persistent and prices must be agreed first. Weekends and summer bring heavy Marrakech day-trip crowds. The path is rough and unsuitable in poor footwear.

Nearby

The Ourika valley runs back towards Marrakech; the Zat valley is east.

Key facts