Yagour Plateau

The Yagour is a plateau at around 2,500 metres between the Ourika and Zat valleys, used as summer grazing by transhumant families who bring flocks up when the snow goes, and across its flat sandstone slabs are several thousand engravings - one of the densest concentrations of rock art in the High Atlas. The subjects are largely Bronze Age: halberds and daggers of types that can be matched to metalwork from Iberia and elsewhere in the second millennium BC, along with shields, human figures, discs read as solar symbols, and animals. Their presence at this altitude on a seasonal pasture is the interesting part - the plateau was being used and marked long before the valleys below were farmed as they are now. There is no road, no facility and no signage; it is a walk of several hours up from the valleys with a guide who knows where the panels are.

Highlights

• Bronze Age weapons - halberds and daggers matching second-millennium BC metalwork.
• Thousands of panels - one of the densest rock art concentrations in the Atlas.
• A summer pasture - transhumant families and flocks on the plateau when the snow goes.
• No access by road - several hours on foot or by mule from the valleys.

When to go

May to October, once the snow has gone. Two to three days.

Good to know

There is no road, shelter or water on the plateau - this is a camping or gite trek with a guide. The panels are unmarked and impossible to find alone. Weather at 2,500 metres changes fast. Do not chalk or wet the carvings.

Nearby

The Ourika valley is west; the Zat valley is east.