Trails of the Sahara and Beyond: The Ultimate Moroccan Off-Road Adventure

This is the harder end of the Wheels of Morocco catalogue: same hotels, same support, but with the tarmac swapped out for the tracks that link them. The operator quotes a 60/40 split in favour of trails, gravel and sand, and asks for riders with genuine off-road mileage on big bikes, because the terrain includes rally-era pistes, soft sections and rocky descents that punish a passenger-laden GS. The first riding day sets the tone by crossing the High Atlas on the Tizi n'Test, a pass that climbs past 2,000 m on a mixture of asphalt, broken tarmac and gravel before dropping into the walled city of Taroudant. From there the route turns south into the Anti-Atlas, taking a picnic among the painted rocks near Tafraoute and then working through canyon roads, narrow ledges and twisting descents to Icht. The middle of the tour is the most committing. The leg to Guelmim runs on flowing gravel and rocky sections with the inevitable sand thrown in, the sort of riding where momentum matters more than horsepower. The following day heads for the Atlantic and the famous Plage Blanche, where the group rides on the beach itself before settling into a coastal resort for two nights. That built-in rest day is well placed. It is optional in the sense that anyone still hungry can take a ride into Paradise Valley, while everyone else spends a day off the bike before the last two stages. Day seven links the coast to Essaouira on a mix of coastal corners and rocky single trails, passing surf spots and small villages, with lunch at Sidi Kaouki and a choice between dunes or the direct route into town. The finale back to Marrakesh runs over rocky ground, hard-packed dirt tracks and the occasional awkward riverbed crossing before the bikes are returned and the group sits down to a farewell dinner. Daily distances hold between roughly 220 and 270 km, which is a long way on this surface. The reward is a version of southern Morocco most touring groups never see: the canyon country of the Anti-Atlas, the emptiness between Guelmim and the coast, and a hundred kilometres of beach at the end of it.

Nine days, six of them riding, on a big-bike off-road loop from Marrakesh down the Anti-Atlas and along the Atlantic. Roughly 60 per cent of the route is trail, gravel and sand and 40 per cent tarmac, and Wheels of Morocco are blunt that solid off-road experience on a loaded adventure bike is a condition of joining. The line runs over the Tizi n'Test pass to Taroudant, past the painted rocks near Tafraoute to Icht, across old rally tracks to Guelmim, then out onto the hard sand of Plage Blanche on the way to Agadir. A rest day on the coast breaks the week before the ride north to Essaouira on coastal twisties and single trails and the final leg back to Marrakesh over rocky ground and dry riverbeds. Days run about 220 to 270 km.