Mountain · Morocco
Jbel Toubkal
Jbel Toubkal is the highest mountain in Morocco and in all of North Africa, a grey pyramid of rock rising above the valleys of the High Atlas. Marrakesh lies just to the north.
Picture credit: SimonKing74 (CC0) · Buckerfing (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Jbel Toubkal?
Jbel Toubkal is part of the High Atlas.
You will find it in: Morocco.
Summit: 31.060° N, 7.915° W
The story behind it
Toubkal stands about 63 kilometres south of Marrakesh, inside Toubkal National Park, and on a clear day you can spot it from the city. In the local Amazigh language, jbel simply means mountain, so "Jbel Toubkal" is really "Toubkal mountain". Nearly everyone starts walking from the village of Imlil at about 1 740 m, among walnut trees and apple orchards, and follows a stony path up past the small shrine of Sidi Chamharouch at around 2 350 m. Higher up, a mountain hut at 3 207 m is where walkers sleep before the last push. From there to the top it is mostly loose grey scree and, from November to May, snow that needs crampons and an ice axe. The first recorded ascent was on 12 June 1923, by the Marquis de Segonzac, Vincent Berger and Hubert Dolbeau; people had of course been living and herding in these valleys for far longer. At 4 167 m, Toubkal is the highest point of Morocco, of the Atlas range, and of the whole Arab world.
Find it on the globe
Jbel Toubkal is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How high is Jbel Toubkal?
It is 4 167 m high, the highest point in Morocco, in the Atlas Mountains and in all of North Africa. No peak in Africa north of the Sahara comes close.
Where is Jbel Toubkal?
In central Morocco, in the High Atlas, roughly 63 kilometres south of Marrakesh and inside Toubkal National Park.
What is the walk up like?
From Imlil it is a long, steep hike on stony paths, with a hut at 3 207 m to sleep in. In summer no ropes are needed, but between November and May there is snow and you need crampons and an ice axe.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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