Imlil and Toubkal: A Gentle Guide at Mule Pace

Most stories about Imlil are really stories about leaving it. They begin at dawn, with boots and head-torches, and hurry up the valley towards Jbel Toubkal, at 4,167 metres the highest mountain in North Africa. The village is treated as a car park with a view.

We would like to suggest the opposite. Stay. Sit on a terrace at around 1,740 to 1,800 metres, where the air is thin enough to be cool and thick enough to be easy, and watch the valley work: mules coming down with apples, women carrying fodder, a mason mixing mud and straw. Toubkal is there all the while, a pale wall at the end of the Aït Mizane valley, and you can admire it perfectly well from a chair.

Imlil sits in Al Haouz province, in the Marrakech-Safi region, roughly 60 to 70 kilometres south of Marrakech — close enough that you can be drinking mint tea in the mountains a couple of hours after leaving the city, and far enough that the Djemaa el-Fna feels like a rumour.

A little history

For centuries these valleys belonged entirely to their own rhythm. Amazigh (Berber) families terraced the steep slopes above the Rheraya river, channelled meltwater into stone-lined irrigation ditches, and grew walnuts, apples, cherries, barley and maize on ledges of earth no wider than a room. Mules did — and still do — the carrying. The older settlements are the ones tucked into the side valleys: Tamatert, Aït Souka, Aroumd, Tacheddirt.

Imlil itself is the newcomer. It grew into a proper village largely because of mountain tourism, becoming the natural gathering point for anyone heading up to Toubkal. Walnuts and apples still matter to the local economy, but guiding, guesthouses and mule work have overtaken them.

The valley has also known hard years. In August 1995, a violent storm sent a wall of water down these gorges, killing many people and tearing out walnut trees that had taken more than a decade to grow. In September 2023, a powerful earthquake struck Al Haouz province, causing severe damage across the High Atlas, including villages around Imlil and the market town of Asni below. Rebuilding has been steady, and trekking and guesthouses are running again, but you will still see construction, scaffolding and new stone walls as you walk. It is worth knowing this before you arrive, and worth spending your money locally when you do.

Imlil and its valley, on the route towards Jbel Toubkal.

What to see

Nothing here is ticketed or timed. The sights are walks, and most of them are short.

The village and its terraces

Imlil is a single busy street of guides' offices, small shops selling nuts and dried fruit, and mules waiting patiently in the shade — and then, a hundred metres off it, complete silence. Walk out along the irrigation channels through the walnut and apple terraces and you are immediately in farmland: flat, green, shaded and almost entirely level underfoot.

Aroumd (Aremd)

The classic short walk. Aroumd sits at roughly 1,840 metres on a huge terrace of boulders above the valley floor, about an hour from Imlil on a broad track, or a ten-minute drive. Its flat-roofed houses stack up the hillside in earth tones, and the view back down the Aït Mizane valley is one of the finest in the range. The final approach into the village is steep; you can stop at the riverside below and still get the picture.

Kasbah du Toubkal

The fortified building on the rocky spur above Imlil is a restored kasbah run in long partnership with the local community, and it served as a filming location for Martin Scorsese's Kundun. Non-residents can usually arrange lunch on the terrace. The walk up is steep and stepped, but the house keeps mules for guests and luggage — ask when you book, and let the mule do the climbing.

Towards Sidi Chamharouch

The mule trail towards Toubkal follows the river past Aroumd to the little white-painted shrine village of Sidi Chamharouch, a full day's walk there and back for a fit walker. You need not go the whole way. The first hour or two, along the riverbed with waterfalls tumbling off the side walls, gives you the scenery without the commitment.

The Tamatert side valley

Quieter and less trodden than the Toubkal route, the track east towards the Tizi n'Tamatert climbs gently through orchards with long views to the eastern Atlas. A good choice on a day when you want to walk uphill for exactly as long as you feel like, then turn round.

Stone and earth houses on the slopes of the Imlil valley, beneath Jebel Toubkal.

Toubkal, from below

If you are a strong hill walker with recent altitude experience, Toubkal is a two-day trip: a long ascent to the refuges at around 3,200 metres, a pre-dawn start, and a summit at 4,167 metres. Since 2019 it has been compulsory to climb with an official local guide, and checks are made on the route. The Imlil mountain guides' bureau in the village is the obvious place to arrange one.

But be honest with yourself. The ascent is long, loose underfoot, and high enough that altitude sickness is a real consideration at any age; if you have a heart or lung condition, talk to your doctor before you even think about it.

The good news is that the mountain is generous to people who stay low. From the terraces above Imlil, from Aroumd, from the Tamatert track, the Toubkal massif fills the sky. In late spring the snowfields are still bright on the summit ridges while you sit among blossom in a short-sleeved shirt. That contrast — snow above, orchards below — is the whole reason to come, and it costs nothing but a slow morning.

The Tamatert valley near Imlil, looking east towards the Atlas Mountains.

A day trip nearby

Asni, on a Saturday. The market town sits down the valley from Imlil, about 17 kilometres away, roughly 30 to 40 minutes by road. Its weekly souk runs on Saturdays only, and it is a genuine mountain market rather than a tourist one: livestock, vegetables, mint, textiles, tools, barbers and tea stalls, with farmers arriving from every side valley. Go early, go with a guide or driver who can meet you at an agreed spot, and accept that the ground is uneven and dusty. An hour is plenty.

Ouirgane. Further west along the road, Ouirgane lies lower and greener, in a broad valley of olive groves and red earth. It makes a restful half-day drive with lunch, and several guesthouses there welcome non-residents. The historic Tinmal mosque lies beyond it in the Nfis valley; it was damaged in the 2023 earthquake and restoration work has been under way, so ask locally whether it can be visited before making the journey.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• Altitude is mild here, but not nothing. Imlil sits around 1,740 to 1,800 metres. Most people feel only slightly short of breath on the first day. Take that first day gently, drink more water than you think you need, and do not plan a big walk on the day you arrive.
• Choose your guesthouse by its steps, not its photographs. Many of the loveliest places in the valley are reached by a flight of stone stairs or a steep path, sometimes with no vehicle access at all. Before booking, ask two direct questions: can a car reach the door, and how many steps are there to my room? Several guesthouses in the flat part of Imlil and on the valley floor can be reached by car.
• Let a mule carry your bag. This is entirely normal, cheap and locally welcomed. Arrange it through your guesthouse rather than at the roadside.
• Paths are stony and uneven. Even the flat orchard walks have irrigation channels, loose rocks and the occasional plank bridge. Walking poles and proper shoes with ankle support make an enormous difference; smooth-soled trainers do not.
• Hire a guide for anything longer than an hour. A local guide sets a slower pace, knows where the gentle tracks run, and can put you on a mule or turn you round without fuss. Ask for a "gentle valley walk", and say plainly how long you want to be out.
• Heat and sun. Summer days can be hot even at this height, and the mountain sun is fierce. Walk in the morning, rest at midday, and carry a hat and sunscreen.
• Winter means ice. From roughly December to March, snow and black ice can reach the last bends of the road and the village paths. Travel in daylight, use a private transfer rather than a shared taxi, and keep expectations for walking modest.
• Practicalities. Cash machines are scarce in the valley — withdraw dirhams in Marrakech. Mobile coverage is decent in the village and patchy above it. Pharmacies and clinics are down in Asni, so bring your regular medicines with you.

A track through the Imlil valley on the way towards Jbel Toubkal.

What to eat

Mountain food here is plain, warm and very good, and it arrives slowly — a tagine is cooked to order, so order early and enjoy the wait.

Expect vegetable or chicken tagine with preserved lemon, lamb with prunes, thick harira soup, and couscous, traditionally the Friday dish. Bread comes round and dense, baked locally and used as the main utensil. Breakfasts are generous: eggs, olive oil, honey, soft pancake-like breads and plenty of mint tea, which is sweet by default — ask for it bla sukar if you would rather have less sugar.

The valley's own produce is worth seeking out. Walnuts, apples and cherries have grown on these terraces for generations, and roadside stalls sell them by the bag in season. Alcohol is generally not served in the village, and dinner is usually eaten where you sleep, which suits early nights and early mornings rather well.

A waterfall on the Oued Rheraya, in the Imlil valley, Toubkal National Park.

Getting there

The Imlil valley along the route towards Jbel Toubkal.

Our verdict

Imlil is not a difficult place to visit, as long as you decide in advance what kind of visit you are having. Come to conquer Toubkal and it will test you severely. Come to live for three days at the foot of it — walking an hour before lunch, sitting in the shade of a walnut tree afterwards, listening to water move through stone channels — and it is one of the kindest mountain destinations in Morocco.

We would pair it with Marrakech: three or four days in the city, then two or three up here to recover from it. Book a guesthouse a car can reach, hire a local guide for one gentle walk a day, and let the mules take everything else. The mountain will still be 4,167 metres high whether or not you stand on top of it.

“Snow on the summit, blossom on the terrace, and a mule going quietly down between them.”

Photo credits

• Morocco Toubkal National Park Imlil Valley: Alexander Klink, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Imlil and its valley and way to Jbel Toubkal 31: Erokhin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Imlil-Jebel Toubkal-kitetraveller-01: Kitetraveller.com from Vienna, Austria, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Imlil and its valley and way to Jbel Toubkal 28: Erokhin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Imlil and its valley and way to Jbel Toubkal 23: Erokhin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Morocco Toubkal National Park Imlil Valley Oued Rheraya Waterfall: Alexander Klink, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Imlil and its valley and way to Jbel Toubkal 04: Erokhin, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons