Morocco with kids: Monkey Fingers Canyon, Dades Gorges

If you are traveling through Morocco with hiking-age kids, make a stop at Monkey Fingers Canyon. Full stop. This was one of the highlights of our trip for both kids and adults, and probably the day that most exceeded expectations for everyone.

Monkey Fingers Canyon is in the Dades Gorges region, on the way between Marrakesh and the Sahara Desert. It is worth taking your time to travel this distance, instead of hightailing the 9+ hour drive bound for the desert. There are so many kid-friendly stops along this stretch of Morocco. While Dades valley is well known and a popular stop-over for visitors, the Monkey Fingers Canyon hike is a definite “hidden gem”, and in our opinion, a must-do.

Our recommendation is to spend 1 night in the Dades Valley area, to allow some time to enjoy and explore the region. Plan half a day for the Monkey Fingers Canyon hike with kids.

Dades Valley Gorge

Dades valley is a series of wadi gorges carved by the Dades river. It is about 5.5 hours away from Marrakesh. The main town in this area is Boumales Dades.

This area feels like the quintessential Moroccan landscape, with dry rocky desert, sandstone cliffs, lush green oases of date and almond trees, and ruins of abandoned kasbahs (fortified houses). There are small Berber villages along the way, and while there are a number of hostels and a few hotels, it is very much still a local way of life. You will see Moroccan men drinking tea on cafe patios, farmers driving donkey carts, and groups of children on their way to school.

Interesting fact: Dades Gorges is also known for its rose cultivation! (I would never have guessed.) In fact, our driver told us that Sting’s famous song “Desert Rose” (“I dream of rain…”) is about Dades Valley roses.

Dades Gorge vs Todra Gorge

One of our travel-mates was enthusiastic about doing some hiking in Morocco. So we researched possible hiking trails along our itinerary that were kid-friendly. Along the stretch of road from Marrakesh to the Sahara (the town of Merzouga), Dades and Todra Gorges both came up as hiking options. While many articles mention both gorges as popular stops along this route, very few articles get into what the hiking is actually like.

On the surface, both gorges seem similar, but once you’re there, they are quite different experiences.

Todra Gorge

Todra Gorge is about 1-1.5 hours from Dades, toward the desert direction. It’s a more popular stop, especially for tour groups. Todra Gorge itself is a narrow gorge with dramatic towering cliffs. It is worth a stop, and the kids enjoyed wading in the river. However, we found it was way busier, with tour buses stopping in large numbers and many vendors selling souvenirs along the gorge. The main hike at Todra Gorge is a whooping 11km trek. While we obviously did not do this and cannot directly compare, the distance alone is more than what Big and Lil S can handle. (For visitors who rock climb, however, Todra Gorge is a prime climbing destination.)

Todra Gorge is close (20 minutes away) to the city of Tinghar, which is a popular overnight stop along the Marrakesh-Sahara route.

Which gorge should you visit?

If you’re just passing through, it’s very easy to make a pit stop at both. At Dades Gorge, you can stop at the Monkey Fingers Canyon lookout point, where you can admire the bizzare-shaped canyon. Monkey Fingers is named for how it looks – like monkey fingers sticking out of the ground. 😛 You can then drive about 10 minutes up the road for the famous Dades Gorge switchback road, pictured above. (Contrary to what I thought, this is not actually “along the way”.)

At Todra Gorge, make a stop at the main traverse (the gorge itself).

But if you want to hike with kids, we definitely recommend Dades Valley and the Monkey Fingers Canyon Hike. The full Monkey Fingers Canyon is 8km, but the actual gorge hike is only about 1km or so, and then you can loop back the same way you came, or along the ridge of the canyon. This hike is not very difficult, but very fun and requires some clambering, taking you through narrow crevices and under boulders, and one instance we actually had to get on our hands and knees. Big S and Lil S and their travel friends had an absolute blast.

When to visit

If you want to hike Monkey Fingers Canyon, timing does come into play. You cannot hike before/during/after rain, as the canyon floods. If you are visiting during rainy season (November to January), this may have to be a stop that you skip.

Where to stay

More popular stopovers along the Marrakesh-Sahara route are Ouarzazate and Tinghar (because they are bigger cities), but Dades Valley is pretty much the halfway point between these destinations.

You can stay in the town of Boumales Dades itself, where there are more restaurants and amenities, or along the river/gorge. Most hotels in this area are along the gorge, and we would recommend this. You get stunning views of the oases and canyon, with easy access to riverbed trails, . The hotels in the area are mostly rustic, catering to the backpacker crowd. (But if you are looking for luxury, look no further than Eden Boutique Hotel.)

We stayed at an airbnb near Boumales Dades, called Kasbah Tussna. (We had initially booked a hotel near Monkey Fingers Canyon, but read online a recent traveler found bed bugs, which immediately gave me the heebie-jeebies.) Kasbah Tussna is a bit further from Monkey Fingers, but had a large quiet courtyard and a pool, which was all the kids needed.

What to know about hiking Monkey Fingers Canyon

How to find the entrance to Monkey Fingers Canyon

We had hired a private driver through a Moroccan tour operator. And while he was fantastic and very knowledgeable about most of Morocco’s attractions, he had no advice about the Monkey Fingers Canyon trail, and looked at us like we were crazy when we said we wanted to hike. 😛

You can access the riverbank in several nearby places and walk along the river trail to the gorge. But the easiest way to reach the main gorge is to drive to the “Monkey Fingers Canyon viewpoint”. There is a parking lot and an observation deck, and you can see the “monkey fingers” part of the canyon directly in front of you. However, there is NO signage for the trail. There is a small gravel path that forks left and right from the parking lot. It looks confusing, but we found both lead to the same spot (which is LEFT if coming from the parking lot).

If you are doing this hike yourself, you will need to walk along this trail, and down a pretty steep incline to the river. You will then need to find a rickety wooden bridge, hope a farmer on the other side opens the far gate for you, and lets you walk through a bit of farmland before you reach the canyon proper. 😛 I mention this because if you are following this route and it’s all starting to feel a little bit like you’re lost and trespassing, this is the right way!

Hire a local guide

… Which brings me to the second piece of sage advice – hire a local guide!! They usually wait at the viewpoint area, and we strongly recommend hiring one. We almost didn’t (because we were a little suspicious and also stupidly determined to be independent. :P) but in hindsight I don’t think we would have *found* the trail without him, much less hiked it.

Our guide led the hike (including that portion where we had to shimmy under a rock on our hands and knees – we would have been second-guessing ourselves a dozen times by that point). He kept the kids entertained, and helped when they got stuck scrambling up one rock or another. As we circled back along the ridge of the canyon (a path we would not have found on our own), he called our driver to pick us up at the end of the trail. And he did the entire thing in slippers! We negotiated the cost to around 200 dh (about $30 CAD), but paid a handsome tip for the great hike.

What to bring

If you are not doing the full hike, you do not need to bring very much. You can hike this trail in regular sneakers, although hiking shoes will help on the pebbly bits. Make sure to pack plenty of water, and maybe snacks for the kids. There are no amenities along the way. (Although on our way back, there was a tiny stand where a lady was selling nuts and dried fruits along the trail.)

The gorge is fairly shaded, but once it opens up is in full sun. Make sure to pack your hat and sunscreen.

The Monkey Fingers Canyon trail (in photos)

The start of the trail is a small path that leads away from the Monkey Fingers Canyon viewpoint parking lot. The path ends in a scramble down the side of a ravine into the river bed. (It is a little steep, but manageable even for kids.) A few minutes along the riverbed and you reach a decidedly non-touristy bridge. Our guide signalled for the farmer on the other side to open the gate at the far end, and gave the farmer a small tip. I assume the process is the same if you’re visiting without a guide, so bring small change, just in case!

A short walk across farmland brings you to the mouth of the gorge, which as you can see, is spectacular. The kids were so excited and raced ahead.

The Monkey Canyon gorge

The Monkey Canyon gorge is a ton of fun – lots of narrow crevices, strange rocky outcroppings, places where you had to crawl (just one), and duck, and climb. The path is never marked out, but fairly easy to navigate. We could have done this on our own, but would have been second guessing whether we were going the right way the entire time.

After 1km or so, the narrow gorge noticeable opens up. Our guide found a small pebbled path that led up the side of the gorge to the lip of the canyon. If you want to end your hike at this point instead of making the full 8km loop, look for a way up and out *on your left hand side*. Once out of the gorge, you get an up close and fantastic view of the Monkey Fingers canyon face. Look for a path that loops back in the direction you came.

This portion of the hike takes about 20-30 minutes. You will be able to see the oasis and road opening up beneath you. The trail takes you past a few houses, and down a road that crosses the Dades river, and back onto the main road. You can walk along the road back to the Monkey Fingers Canyon viewpoint, or, if you have a driver, request that they pick you up at the Auberge Kasbah Ait Marghad (the building right next to the trail).