6 Day ROSES VALLEY TREK

Rose Valley is the tourist nickname of the Dades valley in the southern Morocco, at the foot of the High Atlas between El Kelaa M’Gouna and Boulmane Dades. His entry to Imassine is marked by the presence of a big chaos of rounded boulders; some seem posed balanced on the floor. This is a long series of small villages and traditional mud houses, whose wealth is hidden in invisible gardens of the road. Its economy is mainly based on agriculture (grain, barley, corn, potato). It owes its name to the presence of roses hedges used to keep goats cultivated fields. Roses are traditionally used for the production of rose water. Roses, whose smell spreads throughout the month of May, a few days before harvest, give a special tone to this valley. Damascus rose, Rosa Damascena, resistant to cold and drought, was introduced by pilgrims returning from Mecca to the X century. It is grown for local consumption in the form of rose water, as for export and the perfume industry, in the form of gasoline and real roses. Annually three to four thousand tons of roses are harvested during a week that ends with the very tourist moussem (festival) of  Roses. The rose water is produced on site, but cosmetics and soaps are now made in factories in Marrakech or Casablanca. The distillation is carried out in two factories in the region, that of Kelaâ, located in an old Kasbah. Roses are also exported to the perfume industry. Finally, families traditionally producers use, for perfume, cooking, and body treatments. This 6 day trek from Marrakech offer you a chance to discover a part of the southern Morocco, walk along its valleys, villages, kasbah’s and meet with the Local Berber people of Ait Ata tribe etc.