Merzouga to Fes Road Trip: Ziz Valley, Atlas Mountains & Ifrane

National Highway N13 near Zebzat on the long drive north from Merzouga.

After a night at our Erg Chebbi desert camp, we picked up where our Ouarzazate-to-Merzouga road day and Erg Chebbi camp ended. We started July 15, 2023 on dromedaries and ended it at the gates of Fes. Between those two sensible extremes were the Ziz Valley, the High Atlas, Midelt, Barbary macaques near Azrou and a cappuccino in Ifrane.

This post covers that single road day from the dunes to Fes. The complete Morocco route map appears below; detailed Fes wandering belongs to the next story, where streets become alleys and directions become a form of optimism.

Merzouga to Fes — Post Summary

This road day starts with a sunrise dromedary ride across Erg Chebbi, then runs north from Merzouga through the Ziz Valley, Hassan Addakhil Reservoir, Foum Zabel Tunnel, Midelt, Boulajoul, the cedar country near Azrou and Ifrane before reaching Fes el-Bali.

What's Covered
🌅	Sunrise Across Erg Chebbi to Merzouga — dawn dromedary ride back from camp
🌴	North Through the Ziz Valley — oasis views and a coffee stop above the palms
🚧	Hassan Addakhil Reservoir and Foum Zabel Tunnel — water infrastructure and the High Atlas road
🏔️	Across the High Atlas to Midelt — Ziz crossing, Enzala Mosque and mountain road
🍲	Lunch at Boulajoul — Hotel Meteorites, tagine, couscous and local company
🐒	Barbary Macaques Near Azrou — Middle Atlas cedar country
☕	Ifrane and the Road to Fes — Lion of Ifrane, cappuccino and the final descent
🏰	Arrival at Fes el-Bali — Bab al-Jadid shortly before 5 PM

On July 15, 2023, we were back on the dromedaries at 6:10 AM for the sunrise ride from our Erg Chebbi camp to Merzouga. From there we switched to a passenger vehicle, headed north through the Ziz corridor and High Atlas, continued toward Midelt and Azrou, then passed Ifrane before reaching Fes shortly before 5 PM. The day began with sand under camel feet and ended with city traffic, which is a fairly complete transportation syllabus.

Route: Erg Chebbi camp → Merzouga → Erfoud → Ziz Valley / Ouled Chaker → Errachidia → Hassan Addakhil Reservoir → Foum Zabel Tunnel → Midelt → Boulajoul → Azrou area → Ifrane → Fes el-Bali
Method: Dromedary caravan to Merzouga, then passenger vehicle
Time: 6:10 AM dromedary departure · 12:30 PM lunch at Boulajoul · Fes shortly before 5 PM
Themes: Erg Chebbi sunrise · Ziz oasis corridor · High and Middle Atlas · historic road engineering · Barbary macaques · Fes arrival

Route at a Glance

1. Erg Chebbi camp — breakfast before sunrise and dromedaries back across the dunes.
2. Merzouga — return from the sand to the road.
3. Erfoud and the Ziz Valley — palm country and a coffee stop above the oasis.
4. Hassan Addakhil Reservoir — the Ziz held behind the dam north of Errachidia.
5. Foum Zabel Tunnel — a short historic passage through the High Atlas road corridor.
6. Midelt — between the High and Middle Atlas ranges.
7. Boulajoul — 12:30 PM lunch at Hotel Meteorites.
8. Azrou area — Barbary macaques in the Middle Atlas cedar country.
9. Ifrane — Lion of Ifrane and a cappuccino at Chamonix Hotel.
10. Road to Fes — the final descent from the Middle Atlas.
11. Fes el-Bali — arrival at Bab al-Jadid shortly before 5 PM.

Sunrise Across Erg Chebbi to Merzouga

We woke before sunrise, ate breakfast at camp and climbed back onto the dromedaries at 6:10 AM. The return ride immediately felt easier than the ride in the evening before. Our hips had apparently filed a complaint, received no response and decided to adapt.

Dromedaries resting in Erg Chebbi before our sunrise ride back to Merzouga.

Ahmed, our guide for the dune crossing, described the animals as having distinct personalities. Some preferred the front, some preferred the back, and ours appeared content with steady progress and very little executive oversight.

One of us with the dromedaries as the morning caravan prepared to move.

The morning colors changed quickly. The sky at dawn is influenced by Rayleigh scattering, while the dunes reflected the shifting light from violet and pink toward orange as the sun rose. No multiplication factor was required; the view was doing perfectly well without one.

Our caravan crossing a dune ridge as the sun came up over Erg Chebbi.

The caravan followed the dune ridges and hollows at an unhurried pace. In the cool first light, the only regular sounds were padded feet in sand, tack moving with the animals and the occasional instruction from the guides.

The dromedaries settled into their steady rhythm across the morning dunes.

The broad feet of the dromedaries handled the soft sand much better than ours would have. We left the detailed camel biology to the previous day and concentrated on the useful part: they knew how to cross the dunes, and we knew how to remain attached to them.

Tracks across Erg Chebbi, with the desert camp already disappearing behind the dunes.

As the camp vanished behind the dunes, tracks and scattered shrubs became the main marks on the sand. The scale remained difficult to judge because a ridge that looked close could still take a patient line of dromedaries quite a while to reach.

Dromedaries and riders throwing long shadows across the sand at sunrise.

Long shadows stretched beside the caravan before the sun climbed higher. The desert was already warming, which made the early departure feel less like heroic planning and more like ordinary common sense.

Back at the edge of the dunes after the sunrise ride to Merzouga.

Back near Merzouga, we said goodbye to the dromedaries and returned to four wheels. Air conditioning arrived with almost indecent speed. We passed the Arch of Merzouga and headed back through Erfoud, where we had stopped for dates the day before.

The Arch of Merzouga as we left the dune country and returned to the road.

North Through the Ziz Valley

North of Erfoud, the route followed the Ziz corridor. The contrast was immediate: palms and farm plots occupied the watered valley while hard, rocky hamada spread beyond it. Water had drawn a green line through country that otherwise offered very little green.

The Ziz Valley from above, a narrow green belt of palms and farms in dry country.

We stopped for coffee at Café Restaurant Vue Panoramique near Ouled Chaker. From the overlook, the valley floor showed how tightly settlement and farming clustered around the river and palms.

Palm groves and farm plots below our coffee stop at the Ziz Valley overlook.

From above, the plots looked geometric. Down in the valley they were simply working farms, with palms, buildings and irrigation all competing for the same narrow strip of usable ground.

Date palms and earth-toned buildings packed into the watered Ziz Valley.

Earth-toned buildings blended into the dry slopes, while the palms did the opposite. They announced the route of water from a considerable distance, which is a useful talent for a tree in southeastern Morocco.

Fields, palms and a water basin in the Ziz Valley oasis.

The source of that greenery was visible in water basins, channels and cultivated plots. We could see the working oasis from the road without pretending to identify the exact irrigation method for every field from an overlook.

The palm-filled Ziz Valley running below the road north.

The valley continued north below us, with palms filling the low ground. We had spent more time among oasis farms and irrigation channels near Tinghir the day before; here, the road north remained the main story.

Coffee with a view at Café Restaurant Vue Panoramique above the Ziz Valley.

We were the only customers at the café. Mohammed told us that business was still far below what he remembered before 2020 and treated the quiet spell with patience. We drank our coffee and looked down at the valley while he explained how tourism had always come in waves.

A roadside stop beside earth-built structures north of the Ziz Valley.

Leaving the overlook, our driver Ibrahim took us past more earth-built structures before the road climbed farther north. The palms began to thin as elevation increased and the route tightened toward Errachidia.

Road signs and traffic as we continued north toward the mountains.

Road signs and junctions gradually replaced the long open desert stretches. By Errachidia, the northbound road was N13, climbing toward the High Atlas corridor and the reservoir beyond town.

The highway winding above the Ziz Valley on the climb toward Errachidia and the High Atlas.

The road rose above the Ziz corridor on a series of bends. Dry slopes still dominated the view, but the geography was changing from broad desert basin to a tighter mountain passage.

N13 climbing through dry mountain country north of Errachidia.

Hassan Addakhil Reservoir and Foum Zabel Tunnel

North of Errachidia, Hassan Addakhil Reservoir appeared between dry mountains. The reservoir was created by the Hassan Addakhil dam on the Ziz, completed in 1971 to regulate water for downstream irrigation and help control floods.

The dam also became known for leakage problems that required engineering work; a technical account describes efforts to fix the problem. The reservoir itself was enough to make the point: holding and controlling Ziz water matters greatly downstream.

Hassan Addakhil Reservoir beside the road north of Errachidia.

The reservoir was soon behind us. Ahead, the road returned to dry mountain country on the approach to Foum Zabel.

Traffic on N13 as the road tightened into the mountain corridor near Foum Zabel.

Near Foum Zabel, N13 tightened into the mountain corridor. The road cut into the slopes was dramatic enough without a geology lecture from the passenger seat.

The approach to Foum Zabel Tunnel on N13.

French Foreign Legion pioneers cut the 62-meter Foum Zabel road tunnel in 1928. French defense records credit 40 legionnaires working for six months. We drove through the same passage in 2023.

The rock-cut mouth of Foum Zabel Tunnel.

The tunnel is short enough that the exit is never far away, yet it remains a memorable piece of the road north. The rough rock opening made the engineering effort easy to appreciate from the passenger seat.

South entrance to Foum Zabel Tunnel on National Highway N13.

Across the High Atlas to Midelt

After Foum Zabel, we continued north on N13 and crossed the Ziz again. The river here was part of the same system that had fed the green corridor far below; the road simply met it in a much tighter mountain setting.

Crossing the Ziz River on N13 after the tunnel.

Ait Boudaud lay across the river, and the road soon passed Enzala. The villages sat close to the road and slopes, but this part of the day remained a drive-through rather than a sightseeing stop.

Enzala Mosque beside N13, one of the roadside landmarks on our drive north.

Enzala Mosque stood beside the highway, its minaret easy to spot from the road. We passed rather than visited, so our view was brief: a small roadside mosque on the northbound route.

A closer look at the minaret and exterior of Mosquée Enzala.

Farther north, Midelt marked the transition between the High Atlas behind us and the Middle Atlas Mountains ahead. The region is known for apple growing and mineral activity, both suited to a town whose economy has long been tied to the surrounding high country.

The Midelt roundabout on N13, with the High Atlas behind us and the Middle Atlas ahead.

We crossed the Midelt roundabout and kept going. The desert portion of the day was now behind us, though sand from the morning was still finding inventive places to remain attached to our clothes.

Lunch at Boulajoul

At exactly 12:30 PM we reached Boulajoul and stopped at Hotel Meteorites for lunch. The place was difficult to miss because a red car sat on top of a tower, a method of roadside advertising that avoids the usual problem of subtlety.

Hotel Meteorites Boulajoul was difficult to miss; the red car on the tower did its job.

The hotel sat beside N13 and gave us an easy break after the mountain road. We were still wearing clothes bought for the desert, which now looked rather more theatrical in the cooler high country.

The two of us at Hotel Meteorites Boulajoul, our lunch stop on N13.

Lunch was the familiar Moroccan combination of tagine, couscous and a three-course meal for roughly US$13. We had seen similar pricing on earlier stops, so by this point the number had acquired the comforting regularity of a road sign.

Lunch at Hotel Meteorites Boulajoul before we continued toward Azrou.

Traditional hospitality made the stop memorable beyond the food. Multiple locals told us we could pass for Moroccans from Agadir, which we accepted as a compliment and wisely avoided testing in any official capacity.

A gesture our hosts showed us at Boulajoul, reproduced with varying degrees of competence.

One host showed us the hand gesture pictured above, and we copied it. He used it during our lunch-stop conversation; that local context is all we can safely say about its meaning.

Barbary Macaques Near Azrou

North of Boulajoul, the road entered greener Middle Atlas country. Near Azrou we stopped where Barbary macaques gathered around the cedar forest, a startling change after the dunes and dry mountain corridors of the morning.

A Barbary macaque near Azrou in the Middle Atlas.

The animals were Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus), Old World monkeys rather than apes. Wild populations remain in Morocco and Algeria; as of 2026, the species remains classified as Endangered.

Barbary macaques among the rocks near the cedar forest.

Several macaques stayed among the rocks while visitors watched. Their behavior supplied plenty to see without us guessing at a social hierarchy from a roadside stop.

A young Barbary macaque reaching toward a visitor near Azrou.

A younger macaque came closer to the visitors. The interaction made the animals easy to photograph, but it also reminded us that this was their habitat and our roadside stop.

Watching Barbary macaques at our Middle Atlas stop before Ifrane.

We watched for a while, then continued toward Ifrane. The air was cooler, the roadside much greener, and the visual vocabulary of the day had moved a long way from orange sand.

Ifrane and the Road to Fes

Ifrane arrived with broad streets, pitched roofs and a polished mountain-resort feel that looked very different from the villages and desert towns earlier in the route. The change was real enough without requiring us to declare Morocco temporarily part of Switzerland.

The two of us with the stone Lion of Ifrane.

Locals told us to take a photograph with the stone Lion of Ifrane, so we did. Stories about the statue, its sculptor and the “last” Barbary lion conflict. We did the part nobody disputes: stood beside the stone lion and took the picture.

A cappuccino stop at the Chamonix Hotel terrace in Ifrane.

After the lion, we sat at the open-front terrace of Chamonix Hotel for cappuccino. It was clearly a more upscale stop than lunch, and the coffee managed the impressive feat of costing more than our meal at Boulajoul.

Ifrane road signs pointing us toward Fes.

Back on the road, signs in Ifrane pointed toward Fes and local destinations. The route was now less about crossing remote country and more about joining the road system of northern Morocco.

The road signs shifted from mountain towns to the final approaches toward Fes.

More signs followed for Fes Airport, Ain Chkef, El Hajeb and Sefrou. We passed an interchange with the A2 corridor and continued toward Fes rather than turning the remaining drive into a survey of motorway policy.

Meknes, Taza, Oujda and Fes on the signs as we left the Middle Atlas behind.

The last stretch was now less about choosing a region and more about finding the city.

The final road into Fes after a day that began on dromedaries.

Traffic thickened as the Middle Atlas gave way to the approaches to Fes. By then the day had included dromedaries, desert palms, a reservoir, a legion-built tunnel, mountain lunch, macaques and cappuccino. Fes still had the courtesy to add traffic.

Arrival at Fes el-Bali

Shortly before 5 PM we passed the New Door of Fes, Bab al-Jadid, on the way to our riad inside the old city. The detailed history and maze of Fes el-Bali belong to the next post; this road story ends where the vehicle-based navigation became much less useful.

Bab al-Jadid, the New Door of Fes, just before we entered the old city.

Here is the road day in motion:

Watch: Driving the Sahara Desert & Atlas Mountains of Morocco - Merzouga to Fes

We had left the Erg Chebbi camp before sunrise, crossed the Ziz oasis and High Atlas corridor, eaten lunch on the high plain, met Barbary macaques in the Middle Atlas and reached Fes before evening. The next morning would replace highways with alleys as we walked into the medina.

Our story continues in Fes el-Bali and its old medina. The road from Merzouga had done its job; the next challenge was a city where the useful roads were about to become alleys.