Mountaineering and Rock Climbing in Morocco
MCS AlexClimbIClimb Club Programs in Africa
What mountaineering, trekking, or rock climbing programs do you offer in Morocco?
As of fall 2025, my collection of mountain programs includes the following itineraries in Morocco:
Ascent of Mount Toubkal - a basic, weekend format mountaineering program
Todra Climbing - an interesting basic rock climbing program
Trekking around Mount Toubkal - an unusual, not complicated and very beautiful 5-day, guided trek
Some useful background information: Morocco is a small kingdom in North Africa, formerly a French colony.
Morocco is located along the Atlantic coast, between the Sahara and the Atlantic Ocean, and partly on the Mediterranean coast - with the Atlas Mountains occupying most of the country's territory.
Near the Atlantic coast of Morocco lies the Spanish Canary Islands, where I have several beautiful and effective rock climbing courses.
The capital of Morocco is Rabat, a city renowned for its ancient history. With a decent population of 548,000, this unique town in 2013 was ranked the second most popular tourist destination in the world.
Other popular tourist destinations in Morocco are the country's largest city, Casablanca (population 3,499,000), and Marrakech (953,000).
Morocco's population is Berber and Arab, the official religion is Islam, and the official languages are French, Arabic, and Berber.
Morocco attracts mountaineering and rock climbing lovers thanks to the Atlas Mountain range, with its many peaks of varying difficulty.
Morocco also has many rock formations suitable for multy level rock climbing.
The highest point of the Atlas Mountains and Morocco is Jebel Toubkal. Its altitude is not significant compared to European and, especially, Asian peaks – it is only 4,167 meters.
But for all of North Africa, this is a serious vertical horizon – only the equatorial summits of Kilimanjaro and Kenya are higher on the continent.
The name Jebel Toubkal is translated from Arabic as "Mountain of Remembrance." In the language of the Berbers – the people who inhabit the valleys and foothills of the Atlas Mountains – the mountain's name sounds more prosaic – it is just "The Highest Mountain."
Mount Toubkal is located in the central Atlas Mountains. The most convenient access to the area is from Marrakech, where most European airlines fly.
As a geographical feature in modern cartography, Mount Toubkal appears on the maps as early as the time of the Spanish and Portuguese exploration of Africa—all medieval geographers and cartographers knew of the existence of this peak.
There is a theory that Mount Toubkal, under the name Atlas, is even mentioned in ancient Greek mythology. This unconfirmed fact may be related to the mountain's name, which is the place of exile of the Titan Atlas, brother of Prometheus.
Today, the summit of Mount Toubkal is a popular destination for mountaineering, ski touring in winter, and trekking in spring and fall.
Needless to say, all mountain or rock climbing programs in Morocco can be easily and interestingly combined with historical or ethnographic tours. This country has a rich cultural heritage, which is definitely worth exploring, no matter if you come to Morocco for climbing reasons or not.
Another "vertical" activity available in Morocco is rock climbing. In several areas well-developed for sport climbing, at least 2,000 routes have been established for sport rock climbing.
In 2020, the first climbing guidebook was published for Todgha, Morocco's most popular climbing area in Central Atlas Mountains.
Full-fledged rock climbing programs can also be conducted in the Casablanca region, where rock climbing began to develop in Morocco over 50 years ago, due to the enthusiasm of French and Spanish climbing pioneers (as of 2025, there are approximately 70 established routes in this zone).
Morocco's mountains have long been explored by European climbers. The main tourist flow here comes from France (due to the historical ties between the two countries and the official French language in Morocco), as well as from Spain, Germany, and Austria.
Author of the text, photographs, and programs in Morocco - Alex Trubachev
International mountain guide, rock climbing and ice climbing coach
MCS EDIT 2025