Valley of Roses
The valley of Kelaat M'Gouna, where damask roses grow in hedgerows between the wheat — and where May smells of the harvest.
North of the Ouarzazate road, the Asif M'Goun comes down from some of the highest country in the Atlas, and along its banks the villages grow an unlikely crop: the damask rose. The flowers are planted as hedges around the wheat and lucerne plots — practical fencing that happens to bloom — and in late April and May the whole valley is picked by hand, sack by sack, for the distilleries of Kelaat M'Gouna. The town celebrates with a rose festival, rosewater ends up in everything, and the air genuinely does smell different.
Outside the harvest weeks, this is still one of the most rewarding detours in the south: a green corridor climbing between ochre cliffs toward Bou Tharar and the gorges, with adobe villages stacked above the river and walking paths in every direction. It pairs naturally with Skoura on one side and the Dades on the other — three different valleys in a day's slow driving.
The rose harvest
For a few weeks in spring the valley picks its hedgerows at dawn — sacks of petals head for the stills of Kelaat M'Gouna.
Rosewater & distilleries
The town's cooperatives and distilleries sell rosewater and rose oil at the source — the real thing, not the airport version.
Drive toward Bou Tharar
The road up the M'Goun valley climbs past stacked adobe villages into serious gorge country — a superb short detour.
Valley walks
Easy paths link villages, terraces and river crossings — an hour or a whole day, as you please.
The rose harvest and the festival at Kelaat M'Gouna — the valley at its most fragrant and most itself.
Clear autumn light on the terraces, harvest of a quieter kind, and empty roads.
Hot in the valley bottom, though cooler than the desert — walk early and rest at noon.
How the Valley of Roses fits your journey
Kelaat M'Gouna sits squarely on the Thousand Kasbahs road between Skoura and the Dades Gorge, and the valley itself is the detour north — an hour or a half-day up the M'Goun before rejoining the eastward route.
He routes most Dades-bound journeys through this valley when the roses are in.
Ready to explore Valley of Roses?
Tell Mustapha your dates and he will build Valley of Roses into a journey that is yours alone.