The Oued Zat is the river that gives Ait Ourir its reason for being. For much of the year it's reduced to a thin braid of water across a wide stone bed, and you can walk for hours along its course without seeing anyone but the occasional shepherd. The valley climbs eastward into the High Atlas, with simple villages perched on its slopes and small terraced fields of barley and almond.
A 4x4 or a hired guide opens up day trips deeper into the Zat valley toward the villages of Tighedouine and beyond. The local geology yields amethyst and quartz — vendors at the roadside in Ait Ourir sell rough crystals and small geodes, and if you ask in the right places you can be taken to small workings in the hills above the river.