Source Bleue de Meski

The Source Bleue rises at the foot of a rock face in the Ziz valley and was built into a swimming pool by the French Foreign Legion in the 1930s - a rectangular basin of masonry fed continuously by the spring, set among date palms with a campsite and cafes around it, and it has functioned as a stop on the desert road ever since. The water is cold and clear and the pool is where people from Errachidia and travellers heading south stop to swim in the heat. Above it on the slope stands a ruined ksar, abandoned when the population moved to newer housing, which can be walked into with care. The setting - palms, cliff, water, ruin - is better than the pool itself, which is a concrete basin and can be busy and not always clean. It works as a break on a long hot drive rather than as a destination.

What you actually see

• A spring at a rock face - water emerging continuously at the foot of the cliff.
• A 1930s masonry pool - built by the Legion and used ever since.
• The ruined ksar - an abandoned fortified village on the slope above.
• Palms and cafes - a shaded stop on the desert road.

When to go

Spring and autumn; summer for the swimming, if you can stand the drive. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The pool is a concrete basin and cleanliness varies with how busy it has been. Entry is charged and parking attendants expect payment. The ksar is unstable in places. It is a roadside stop, not a sight in itself.

Nearby

The Ziz gorges are north; Erfoud and the Tafilalt are south.