Tizi N’Tichka, or Alto de Tichka, is the highest road passage in North Africa, with a height of 2260 meters.
The name of the step comes from joining several words in Tamazight (ⵜ ⵉ ⵣ ⵉ ⵏ ⵜ ⵉ ⵛ ⴽ ⴰ) and means “difficult mountain pass”. They link the south-east of Marrakech with the city of Ouarzazate through the Atlas Mountains. It’s the road to the Sahara Desert gate. From November to march the snow can often fall into the passage, which is, in addition, the highest important mountain pass in North Africa. The road was built by the French Army in 1936 during colonialism, and is now part of National Route 9 (Morocco).
During the tour you will have to overcome the highest road crossing in North Africa.
Atlas Mountain Range
The port of Tizi N’Tichka is a Moroccan mountain port that crosses the Atlas Mountains, its north face faces the cosmopolitan city of Marrakech, its south face to the Sahara desert. This port reaches 2,260 meters high above sea level, being the highest port in Morocco, and connects the city of Marrakech with the valleys of southern Morocco, where desert dunes begin to have presence.
Before crowning the port, a winding road will make you leave behind the tourist cities of Ait Ben Haddou and Ouarzazate. In Ait Ben Haddou are located mythical films like Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 or Gladiator in the year 2000 and in Ouarzazate are the film studios Atlas, the most important of Morocco, where several international producers work.
