Women’s High Atlas Gravel Bike Tour

I have been guiding in these valleys for fifteen years and for the last ten of them I have been running this particular week. It started because I kept meeting women on other tours who were riding well but apologising for riding well — holding back at the front, hanging at the back, checking whether their pace was acceptable. I wanted to run a tour where nobody did any of that. That is what this week is.

The route runs from Marrakech to the western High Atlas and back over five riding days: Asni, Imlil, Ouirgane, the Kik Plateau and the Lalla Takerkoust lake. Roughly 255 km, 4,650 m of climbing, 70% gravel. The daily distances are 40–60 km — enough to feel like you are actually riding somewhere, short enough to finish with energy left for the hammam, the dinner table or the walk into the village. This is a considered decision, not a concession.

The group is maximum ten riders, all women. The lead guide is a woman from the High Atlas with a mountain-guide certification and fifteen years of local knowledge. She sets the pace from the front; the sweep guide rides at the back and nobody is left behind. There is a mechanic in the support vehicle on every riding day. The support vehicle also carries your luggage, cold drinks and the day’s packed lunch — you ride with a day pack only.

What makes this tour specific to women is not the word women on the website. It is the argan cooperative visit run by Amazigh women in the Ouirgane valley, paid directly. The household lunch cooked by the women of Aremd, not a restaurant. The hammam and yoga session built into the schedule without apology. The solo-traveller dynamics that form naturally when a small group of women shares hard days in a beautiful place. The cultural conversations that happen differently without a mixed group. About a third of our riders have never done a cycling holiday before. A third do this kind of trip regularly but want the specific atmosphere of a women-only group. A third are solo travellers who found us because they were nervous about travelling alone. All of them come back and book something else.

Tour Highlights

• Women-only group departures with a maximum of ten riders
• Female lead guide with fifteen years of High Atlas local knowledge
• No-drop pacing — the sweep never leaves anyone behind
• Kik Plateau panorama: the whole Toubkal massif from 1,900 m
• A 20 km gravel descent from the plateau to Lalla Takerkoust
• Argan cooperative visit run by Amazigh women in the Ouirgane valley
• Walnut forests and irrigation-channel singletrack above Imlil
• Hammam, rooftop yoga and a Moroccan cooking class built into the schedule
• Family-owned accommodation chosen for privacy and warmth, not infrastructure
• Mechanic on every riding day with a spare wheel and a full tool roll
• Solo travellers make up a third of our groups — you will not feel alone
• Airport transfers included; bikes built before you land if you ship ahead

Terrain: 70% gravel, 20% asphalt, 10% double track
Best season: March–May, September–November