Can you do gorge hikes in Morocco (Todra, Dades)?

Todra Gorge is the showstopper and the easiest to enjoy. Just past Tinghir, the canyon walls close in to a corridor maybe 10 metres wide and 300 metres tall, with a shallow river and a paved path running right through the narrowest stretch. You don't need to be a hiker for this part — it's a flat, jaw-dropping 20-minute stroll between cliffs that turn gold in the afternoon light, popular with rock climbers you'll see clinging to the walls above you. For more, trails climb out of the gorge to plateau viewpoints and Berber villages on a half-day loop.

Dades Gorge has a completely different character — broader, redder, more sculptural. The famous image is the road itself: a series of tight hairpin switchbacks the locals call the 'monkey fingers,' best seen from the viewpoint café terrace above. Beyond the photo stop, Dades is genuine trekking country. You can walk from the valley floor up side canyons and past rose-coloured rock formations on routes ranging from an easy hour to a full day, with simple gîtes for those wanting to go deeper into the M'Goun massif behind it.

What makes both so good is the location — they sit right on the 'Road of a Thousand Kasbahs' between the Atlas and the Sahara, so you barely detour to reach them. My standard move on a Marrakech-to-Merzouga trip is to overnight in or near Dades, do the gorge in golden light, then drive Todra the next morning before continuing to the desert. Staying in a gorge hotel — some literally built into the cliffs by the river — turns a drive-through into a proper stop.

Practical truth: both are doable year-round, but spring is loveliest with green valley floors and full rivers, and summer afternoons in the gorges stay surprisingly cool in the shade of the walls. Wear decent shoes if you leave the paved sections, carry water, and don't rush — the temptation is to treat these as quick photo stops, but an hour walking into the quiet beyond the road is what people remember.