What is Khenifra National Park and its Middle Atlas lakes?

Khenifra is a park I love precisely because it overturns every cliché of Morocco. Centred on the Middle Atlas plateau around the town of Khenifra, it protects a landscape of high, cool grasslands, cedar and holm-oak forest, and — most strikingly — a scatter of natural mountain lakes, the aguelmams. Coming over a rise to find a still, blue lake ringed by cedars at altitude is not what most people expect from this country.

Those lakes are the soul of the park. Aguelmam Sidi Ali and Aguelmame Aziza are the best known — broad, glassy highland lakes that draw waterbirds, reflect the surrounding hills, and feel a world away from the desert a few hours south. They're sacred and significant to the Amazigh communities of the plateau, and the wider park shelters Barbary macaques in its forests along with raptors overhead and trout in some of the cleaner streams.

This is walking, riding and picnicking country rather than a wildlife-spectacle park. I send guests here to breathe mountain air, stroll the lake shores, watch shepherds move their flocks across the plateau, and soak up a slower, pastoral Morocco. The Middle Atlas Amazigh culture is strong here — Khenifra is a historic centre of it — so it's as much a cultural landscape as a natural one.

Honestly, Khenifra sees very few foreign visitors, which is part of its charm but also means light infrastructure. It works best as a scenic detour if you're crossing the Middle Atlas between Fes/Meknes and the south, and a local guide or driver who knows the lake tracks is invaluable, as some are rough. Go in late spring through autumn for the kindest weather; winter can be cold and snowy up on the plateau.