Boumalne Things to Do Tips by amsterdam_vallon

The Red Valley of Dades (part IV)

As one of several fortified ksours along the road, the one of Aït Youl is among the largest.
Protected by the mountains, and protecting the fertile fields along the river, it was naturally turned into a fortified dwelling.

The Red Valley of Dades (part III)

It is clear that the most dramatic part of the Dades Valley is along the normal road before you reach Aït Oudinar. Some places the mountains turn and twist into formations not seen many other places, but even better is it that the intense red colour does not fade.

The Red Valley of Dades (part II)

The drive through the Dades Valley will not lead you to any landmarks, but there is a mind-bending drama in catching how life conditions change quickly as you and your vehicle slowly rise in altitude, and as the valley gets more and more narrow.

The Red Valley of Dades

The strength of the colours will never escape your memory, red, green and white. The Dades Gorge has a fairy-tale feeling — just after you leave the rather dull Boumalne du Dades, the mountain closes up on both sides of you, before it opens again and you are in a world where the grass is greener, the soil redder and houses nicer.

Serpentine roads leads you slowly through community after community, villages set apart by dramatic twirls in the mountains, or by the fresh river meandering through the middle. Perhaps there still are blood feuds between the villages, legendary romances across hostile clans, rivalries that fills a life time? Your imagination is fed by the marvelous nature that unfolds while you carefully make sure that you do not drive off the road. But, from what everyone tells you, it is all calm now.

On this picture :
A kasbah of the former ruling chiefs Glaoui is one of the first major buildings you will pass when entering the valley.