The Dades Valley stretches east from Ouarzazate into the High Atlas foothills, its floor bright green with palmeries, its walls rising into dramatic ochre and rose-coloured rock formations. The road along the valley — the N10, known as the Route des Kasbahs — passes through a succession of oasis villages, each with its own crumbling or restored kasbah, before entering the spectacular narrows of the Dades Gorge.
Interesting stops along the way include Skoura, with its famous palmeraie and the Kasbah Amerhidil; Boumalne Dades, the main town and a good base for gorge excursions; and Tinerhir, gateway to the Todra Gorge a few kilometres north. Walking along the river in the morning or late afternoon light, with ruined kasbahs above and date palms below, is one of the great slow pleasures of southern Morocco.
The valley is best combined with the Todra Gorge as a two-day circuit from Ouarzazate or Tinerhir.