The Todra and Dades Gorges:Two Canyons, Two Atmospheres

1. Two gorges, not one — what sets them apart

The Todra and Dades Gorges are two distinct High Atlas canyons, about 50 km apart by road, with the town of Tinghir in between.

They are often confused because they are crossed on the same itinerary between Marrakech and Merzouga, but their terrain and atmosphere differ markedly.

2. Todra: a vertical corridor cut into limestone

The Todra Gorges form a narrow corridor — up to 10 metres wide at their narrowest point — between vertical limestone cliffs that exceed 300 metres in height.

The canyon was carved over millennia by the Todra river, which still flows at the bottom and feeds a palm grove upstream at Tinghir. It is this narrowness and verticality that make Todra a sought-after site for climbers, with equipped climbing routes on the walls.

3. Dades: a wide valley with "monkey fingers"

Unlike Todra's narrow corridor, the Dades valley opens out more widely, with eroded rock formations that local guides nickname "monkey fingers" for their characteristic rounded shape.

The road winding through it snakes in hairpin bends past mud-brick kasbahs and Berber villages clinging to the terrain, offering a more inhabited and cultivated landscape than Todra, with Damask rose cultivation in its lower part around Kelaat M'Gouna.

This stop fits into our tours to Merzouga, after visiting the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou: 3-day tour or 4-day tour. For the complete itinerary from Ouarzazate, see our guide to the Route of a Thousand Kasbahs.