Morocco Canyon

Dadès Gorges

1,121 m of rock, cut by the Dadès River.

Sgroey · CC BY 4.0

The cut

1,121 metres, to scale.

A slice through Dadès Gorges where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

Standing on the floor, to scale: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 m

Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.

1,121m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

13.3km

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

37°

Steepest wall

average over 300 m, from the relief

1,706m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

8 °C warmer at the bottom.

In July the afternoon reaches 34 °C on the floor, against 27 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are in April and in October. The rim freezes at night from November to March.

rim · 2,860 mfloor · 1,706 m

12°5°Jan
14°6°Feb
18°10°Mar
22°14°Apr
26°18°May
31°23°Jun
34°27°Jul
33°25°Aug
28°20°Sep
22°15°Oct
16°8°Nov
13°5°Dec

Hike: Apr, OctFrost on the rim: Nov–Mar

Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.

Series of wadi gorges in Morocco

Dadès Gorges is a canyon in Morocco, cut by the Dadès River. The relief model measures 1,121 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 13 km wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Boumalne Dadesnearest town · 24 km in a straight line
Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.8 km from the floor
Beni Mellal Airport (BEM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 99 km in a straight lineCar hire at RAK airport (Marrakesh)Discover Cars · sponsored link
In April and in Octoberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at RAK airport (Marrakesh)Discover CarsSee prices

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The river

The Dadès River runs highest from March to April.

The Dadès River carries about 15 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to April. It is lowest from June to August.

12 m³/sJan
17 m³/sFeb
39 m³/sMar
30 m³/sApr
20 m³/sMay
6.3 m³/sJun
0.8 m³/sJul
3.2 m³/sAug
17 m³/sSep
24 m³/sOct
24 m³/sNov
13 m³/sDec

From about 0.84 m³/s in the lowest month to 39 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 1,192 km².

The Dadès River from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From the sky.

The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.

Dadès Gorges seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 6 km

ViewpointsFootbridgesCampsites

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

3viewpoints within 5 km
1footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
6campsites within 8 kmLa Gazelle du Dades, Chez Pierrette & Moha, Camp Hôtel Berbère de la Montagne and 3 more
22hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmBerbère de la Montagne, Hotel Le Vieux Chateau du Dades, Atlas Berbere and 19 more
7restaurants and cafés within 4 km

marked hiking routes within 4 km
via ferrata routes within 4 km
climbing crags within 3 km
rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
swimming spots within 3 km
named waterfalls within 4 km
caves within 3 km
car parks within 3 km
information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
bus stops within 2 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

Boumalne Dades24 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Dadès Gorges.

The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.

Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon

Dadès River201 kmOued M’Goun

Peakyas19 mountains within 15 km

Jebel Tanamart · 5.4 kmAdrar Sgatt · 8.5 kmJebel Touya · 8.7 kmAdrar n' Ououchene · 10 kmJebel Tazloutat · 11 kmJebel Marouane · 12 kmTalatine n'Ououli · 14 kmJebel Touna Sidi Gondrene · 14 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon · floor	12	14	18	22	26	31	34	33	28	22	16	13
Afternoon · rim	5	6	10	14	18	23	27	25	20	15	8	5
Night · rim	-8	-7	-4	-1	3	8	12	12	7	2	-4	-7
Rain (mm)	13	17	28	17	19	8	7	17	28	25	22	14
Rainy days	3	4	5	4	3	2	2	3	5	4	4	4
Sun hours/day	8.5	9.0	10.0	11.1	11.5	12.4	11.2	10.0	9.5	8.7	8.3	8.2
Snow on the ground (cm)	4	4	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	12	5	-8	13	8.5
Feb	14	6	-7	17	9.0
Mar	18	10	-4	28	10.0
Apr	22	14	-1	17	11.1
May	26	18	3	19	11.5
Jun	31	23	8	8	12.4
Jul	34	27	12	7	11.2
Aug	33	25	12	17	10.0
Sep	28	20	7	28	9.5
Oct	22	15	2	25	8.7
Nov	16	8	-4	22	8.3
Dec	13	5	-7	14	8.2

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (1,706 m) and the rim (2,860 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

"Die Schlucht gehört zu dem absoluten Höhepunkten einer Reise durch Marokko". 06 — Holger Uwe Schmitt · CC BY-SA 4.0

"Die Schlucht gehört zu dem absoluten Höhepunkten einer Reise durch Marokko". 23 — Holger Uwe Schmitt · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2020	63%	4%	420%	255%	48%	40%	196%	103%	40%	140%	100%	44%
2021	205%	335%	106%	30%	57%	132%	4%	5%	654%	27%	72%	104%
2022	154%	93%	98%	646%	41%	216%	96%	26%	45%	85%	4%	159%
2023	68%	446%	4%	45%	144%	44%	0%	9%	34%	76%	1%	11%
2024	59%	70%	74%	50%	8%	20%	28%	34%	321%	210%	54%	104%
2025	72%	112%	201%	236%	36%	160%	241%	11%	58%	1%	47%	594%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Compare with the neighbours.

Dadès Gorges

Morocco

1,121 mDepth
13 kmRim to rim
—Length
37°Steepest wall

Todgha Gorge

Morocco · 31 km

337 mDepth
3.1 kmRim to rim
—Length
40°Steepest wall

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q901124) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basin	HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby	Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas