Cascade Ouzoud
Cascade Ouzoud
Cascade Ouzoud should be classified as one of the “natural wonders” of Morocco. Approximately 300 meters high, the cascade is northeast of Marrakech about 150km. Like some stage-plays in New York City being “off-off Broadway,” the cascade is also “off-off” the beaten path. But the journey there is well worth the effort. You will find at the top quaint and cheap little hostels, good restaurants serving excellent meals and small shops selling hand-made Moroccan goods.
Journey down the well constructed path through olive trees to the bottom of the gorge and look up as the water cascades over the edge far above you. You can have your lunch served to you right at the waters edge after having taken a refreshing swim in the large pool formed by the falling torrent. Or, you can just sit quietly while drinking your mint tea and watch the Rhesus Macaques (Desert Monkeys) begging for handouts.
Ask one of the locals where the source of the water is and they will take you about 6km east to it. You will walk through olive groves for about 1 or 2 km and pass an ancient olive press that must have known the Moulay Idriss. Finally, you will come to the source; a “gush” of water from an artesian spring out of the ground that is so cold and refreshing you will not want to leave.
To get there, take Highway P24 from Marrakech northeast which goes to Fez. When you see the road panels for Afourer turn there and scale the mountain road (S508) and pass through Bin-el-Quidane (You’ll know it by the huge dam and man-made lake). Just keep following the road panels to Cascade Ouzoud.
