Hiking Mount Toubkal from Imlil – A 2 Day Trek Review

Hiking Mount Toubkal has been on my list for some time. And in April 2026, I flew out to Morocco to tick this one off.

Here’s an honest review of the agent, the route and the ground suppliers who took care of our group for the trip.

Toubkal Hike Details

How difficult you find this hike will depend on the conditions, your own level of fitness and the time of year. I summited (5 of our group of 6 did) but I did suffer with altitude sickness and summit day was a hard day. But the hiking was incredible and we got so lucky with the views.

So let’s talk about the details. I’m going to talk about this day by day and then I’ll share the positives and negatives of the specific provider I booked with.

Day 1 – Land in Marrakech, Transfer to Imlil

I travelled with a football teammate, Julia. We landed in Marrakech just before 11am and were picked up by someone hired by Call to Adventure. Within an hour or so, our entire group had arrived. All 6 of us who would be on the walk. We were taken by car to Imlil (some questionable driving, like…) where we were dropped at a Riad.

The weather was miserable in Imlil that Sunday afternoon. Nonetheless, we took ourselves out for a wander into the village.

I’d heard Imlil was surrounded by pretty mountain scenery. But it was masked by cloud that day and I was grateful we weren’t hiking on the Sunday.

Nonetheless, we enjoyed our wander in Imlil, some 1,700m above sea level.
We returned for dinner at the Riad at 7pm and settled down for an early night with a promise of breakfast the next morning and the start of our trek.

The Riad was basic but comfortable. There was warm running water in the bathroom and although the room was a bit cold, once I was tucked up in my sleeping bag I was snug. It was a good night’s sleep.

Day 2 – Imlil to the Toubkal Mountain Refuge at 1,300m

Day 2 started with blue skies and finally, a glimpse of the mountain scenery I was expecting from Imlil.

Breakfast of bread, msemen (Moroccon flaky crepes) and coffee was the fuel we needed.

Our guide, Mohamed, came to meet us at the Riad shortly after 9am. Our overnight bags were loaded onto a mule.

We started a walk under blue skies knowing we had roughly 6 to 7 hours of hiking and we had to get from 1,700m to 2,300m.

The scenery from the outset was incredible.

We started walking up hill through some of the Imlil villages before making it into the Toubkal National Park.

An easy to follow path passes the check point and almost the whole time you can just see the surrounding mountains.

Around halfway through the hike we stopped for lunch. The porter who had gone ahead with the mule had already arrived at our stop point and prepared an incredible salad and tagine. Sitting in the sun, albeit a tad cold, we had an hour to soak up the scenery and prepare for the steeper half of the walk to the mountain refuge.

The nearer we got to the refuge, the more snow was under foot.

Mohamed had told us that as early at February last year, ascents to the summit were being done without crampons, owing to such little snow on the ground.

However, a few days prior to our ascent, Toubkal had experienced heavy April snowfall. So we would be attempting the summit in wintery conditions and everyone would be required to go up in winter kit, crampons and helmets.

We arrived at the refuge and were greeted with the customary Moroccan mint tea.

Our guide had reserved a table for our party of 6.

We were told dinner would be served at 7 and we had an hour or two to organise our bags for the next morning and get our beds.

We were in a small room that slept 14 (though in the end, only our group of 6 slept there).

This was definitely the closest I’ve ever slept to any of my teammates:

Some of our party opted for showers. I took a look at the showers and decided against it. But I did prepare my bag for the next morning before dinner.
Dinner was a tagine again, salad and fruit – plenty of fuel for the next day.

After dinner, I went outside to enjoy the remarkable sunset and cloud inversion against the backdrop of the beautiful Atlas Mountains.

Our guide, Mohamed, had already advised us we would be unlikely to sleep much the night before summit. We had to be up at 2:30am for breakfast at 3, crampon fitting and briefing at 3:30 and on the trail by 4.

The lights and electricity in the Toubkal mountain refuge all go out at 9:30pm. But it was noisy all night and uncomfortable. So none of us slept much. 

Before we knew it, the alarm was off and we were getting ready for our summit hike.

Day 3 – Toubkal Summit

What a tough old hike this was. The snow, the altitude and the steepness of the terrain made this one of the hardest things I’ve ever hiked.

Setting out in the dark though meant we were treated to a clear sky full of stars against the silhouette of the Atlas Mountains. 

Frankly, I don’t know if I’ll ever top that for a night sky view. It will certainly live long in the memory.

The first hour, though tough and steep, was all about the night sky.

And then the first light began to appear and as the stars dimmed the sky began changing colour.

Eventually we reached the pass from which the plan was to watch sunrise before a final 40 minute or so push to the summit.

I’ll never forget that sunrise. And I needed it. By this point we were teetering on 4,000m. Most of us in thr group were struggling with breathlessness. I was nauseous (and would eventually puke my guts up on a mountain cos I’m classy like that). But that sunrise coupled with the fact we could see the summit clearly now was the motivation I needed.

Before long, we were there. We were on the summit taking selfies, enjoying the views and congratulating one another on making it.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been as delighted to summit a mountain in my life before as I was with Toubkal, mostly just because it meant that the climb was over!! It’s a busy summit at all times of the year, so don’t expect much by the way of peace here. But what it lacks in peace it does make up for in views and an unrivalled sense of accomplishment.

There’s always time for a summit selfie.

We didn’t stay long on the summit. The crowds, the altitude and the cold meant the plan was to then descent back to the refuge quickly for lunch and an hour’s recovery, before the long walk back to Imlil.

On arrival back at the refuge I felt exhausted. But after a break, felt ready to tackle the 12 to 13km back down to Imlil, stopping at the fresh orange juice stands on the way.

It was a leisurely walk back down really, though tiring by the end of the day.

From here we were transferred to Marrakech where we spent the night in a lovely Riad before being taken back to the airport the next day.

In all, Mount Toubkal was an immense hike. 

But let’s look at some answers to the questions I myself had before taking on Mount Toubkal.

Are Call to Adventure a Good Company to Book With?

I was really pleased on the whole with Call to Adventure in terms of their itinerary and we got so lucky with the guide we had.

However, some things were lacking if I’m to be honest in my review.

First up, we had little information before departure. None of us in our group knew where we were staying, for example. But all of us were asked for the name of our hotels at passport control so this could have been a problem.

A simple PDF with all your itinerary details before departure could have fixed that for sure.

In addition, we were asked to upload a lot of info before departure (flight info etc) only to be asked for it again a couple of times while there. SO it just felt like there was a lot of repeat admin.

On the whole though it was a great value trip and largely well organised.

What’s it like sleeping in the Toubkal Mountain Refuge?

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to book a private room which I feel would’ve made for a better night’s sleep. So let’s be honest. It’s a bit dirty, it’s very crowded and really you’re just there to get your head down a little before your hike. Don’t expect luxury and don’t expect a great night’s sleep.

Can you get altitude sickness on Mount Toubkal?

Yes. You will most likely experience at least some mild symptoms of altitude sickness.

Symptoms can be experienced from 2,500m+. Though personally for me I only had a mild headache at basecamp and didn’t start to feel really unwell until around the 3,500 to 3,600m mark on the ascent.

However, statistically speaking, most people hiking to 4,167m will experience some altitude sickness. Severe and life threatening altitude sickness at these heights is unlikely. But it can be unpleasant, particularly given there’s little acclimatisation time on a two day trek like this.

Is Mount Toubkal Hard?

Yes. Really hard. This was one of the toughest hikes I’ve done, largely brought about by a combination of the wintery conditions, steepness of the summit and the effect of altitude.

But it’s so so worth it.

What are the Toubkal summit success rates?

I honestly don’t know. Of our group of 6, 5 made it. One was told he had to turn back early into the summit morning owing to an injury he has which means he simply wasn’t mobile enough and was struggling with crampons.

Our guide advised us 40 or so people has quit before the halfway point the day before.

But te success rate group to group will vary hugely depending on the nature of the people in the group and on the guide you have too, I suspect.

How long does it take to hike up Toubkal?

We were told to expect a 6 to 7 hour hike on day 1 (Imlil to basecamp), 7 hours in the snow from basecamp to the summit and back, then 6 hours back from basecamp to Imlil.

So in all, we hiked 7 hours on day 1 and 12 to 13 hours on day two.

What was included?

With Call to Adventure, accommodation on all 3 nights was included, as were transfers. Flights were not.

Also, we had included:

• dinner on day 1 in the Riad in Imlil
• Breakfast on day 2 in the riad
• Lunch on the mountain on day 2
• Dinner at the mountain refuge on day 2
• Breakfast at the mountain refuge on day 3
• Lunch at the mountain refuge on day 3

Water for the hike isn’t included. Bring cash to buy fresh water in the refuge the night before your summit.

Mount Toubkal Hike Review in a Nutshell

I loved it. It was a tough old hike but the sense of accomplishment was incredible and the scenery in the High Atlas Mountains is incredible.

It’s a great taste of high altitude hiking and for me, I’m delighted I did it.

Next up… Kilimanjaro!