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Tizi n'Test: Guide to the Tizi n'Test Drive

The Tizi n Test, the road that cuts through the High Atlas between Asni to Taroudant and beyond, is one of the most spectacular drives in Morocco. The road weaves its way up through the High Atlas Mountains, over the Tizi n Test pass at 2092 metres, and then tips over the Saharan side of the Mountain in its descent into the Souss Valley. No matter which way you come, you will appreciate the breathtaking views from numerous points along the way.

Tizi n Test is also a spectacular feat of engineering. Blasted out of the mountains by the French in 1929, it was the first modern road to link the Marrakech to the Souss plains, the Mountains to the Sahara. Until then, it had been considered impracticable and only a few Sultans could exercise some control on this important pass for trade to the South.

In the twelfth-century, the Almohads used the pass as a refuge to subjugate the High Atlas Mountains and establish control over the rest of Morocco. Their power base was at the holy city of Tin Mal, rising high up above the Tizi n Test on a mountain slope. Tin Mal is an excursion well worth making for the chance to see the carefully restored ruins of the Great Mosque of Tin Mal. Looking more like a fortress than a mosque; it was built in 1153 as a cult centre for the Almohad leader Ibn Tumert. This is also one of the very few mosques accessible for non-Muslims, except on Fridays.

Through much of the nineteenth-century, Tizi n Test was controlled by the powerful Goundafi clan, who built many Kasbahs on crags and strategic points along the way. These include the privately-owned and well preserved Agadir n’Gouj, well worth the detour if only to climb to its hilltop site and enjoy the amazing panoramic view.

The Road to the Pass

Leaving Marrakech, the Tizi n Test road runs over a fairly monotonous landscape until the gorges of Moulay Brahim. At Isni, a pleasant little town in a fruit growing area with an interesting Saturday souk, there is a turn-off for Imlil and hikes across the High Atlas. After Isni, the landscape gets more dramatic – barren and wilder with snow on the peaks. Twisting endlessly, the main road drops to the large valley basin of Ourigane, a peaceful village which makes an excellent hiking base.