Tizi n'Tichka Pass
🇲🇦 Morocco
The Tizi n'Tichka Pass is the highest major mountain pass in North Africa, reaching 2,260 meters in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The road (N9) connects Marrakech with the Saharan city of Ouarzazate over a distance of approximately 200 kilometers, crossing the backbone of the Atlas range. Built by the French Foreign Legion in 1936, the road was a critical military and trade route and remains the primary road link between Marrakech and the Draa Valley oases and film studios of Ouarzazate.
The ascent from the Marrakech side takes drivers through a rapidly changing landscape, from the fertile Haouz plain through terraced Berber villages clinging to mountainsides, past groves of walnut and almond trees, and up through increasingly barren terrain to the windswept pass. The road features numerous switchbacks and hairpin bends, and traffic is diverse: modern vehicles share the road with donkeys, overloaded trucks, and local buses navigating the narrow curves at varying speeds.
The descent toward Ouarzazate passes through the Berber heartland, where traditional kasbahs (fortified villages) dot the landscape. A detour to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ait Benhaddou, a stunning fortified village that has served as a filming location for Game of Thrones, Gladiator, and Lawrence of Arabia, is highly recommended. The road is open year-round, though snow can occasionally close the pass in winter. Along the route, roadside vendors sell geodes, fossils, and minerals from the Atlas Mountains, and small restaurants offer traditional Berber tagine and mint tea.