Akchour: A Gentle Guide to Morocco's Riverside Waterfalls

Akchour is a small village in the Rif Mountains, about 28 to 30 kilometres northeast of Chefchaouen, tucked into a limestone gorge where a clear green river runs between steep wooded slopes. It sits inside Talassemtane National Park, and for most travellers it is a single-word item on a Morocco itinerary: waterfalls.

That word does the place a disservice. Akchour is not really a monument to be conquered; it is a river to be sat beside. The water is cold and glassy, the cliffs throw shade for most of the morning, and small cafés set out chairs and low tables wherever the bank is flat enough to hold them.

This guide takes the gentle view. You do not need to reach the Grande Cascade to have had a fine day at Akchour. The first easy stretch of path, a slow lunch over the water and a mid-afternoon taxi home is, for many travellers over 60, the better version of the trip — and the one we would choose ourselves.

A little history

Akchour is an old farming hamlet rather than a historic town, and its story is mostly the story of the mountains around it. The Rif has always been a region apart — remote, self-sufficient, Amazigh-speaking in many of its villages, and slow to be reached by road. Until recently, the valley's traffic was mules, goats and water.

The change came in 2004, when Talassemtane National Park was created to protect roughly 590 square kilometres of the western Rif. The park's great treasure is botanical: it shelters some of the last stands of the Moroccan fir, a tree found nowhere else, alongside more than a thousand plant species. Barbary macaques live in the forests, and bearded vultures and Barbary partridges are among the birds recorded here. The area forms part of the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean, shared with southern Spain, and has been on Morocco's UNESCO tentative list since 1998.

A small hydroelectric dam sits just above the village, and it is this dam — not a monument or a mosque — that marks the beginning of every walk at Akchour. Beyond it, the valley narrows into the gorge that visitors come to see.

Akchour mountain, with a dam in the valley below.

What to see

Everything at Akchour radiates from one point: the dam. Just past it the path forks — right for God's Bridge, left for the waterfalls — and the choice shapes your whole day.

The dam and the first stretch of river

This is our favourite part and the one most people hurry through. Above the dam the water spreads into a small green reservoir, ringed by simple café terraces built almost on the waterline. Walk ten or fifteen minutes upstream and you are among smooth boulders, overhanging trees and pools so still they mirror the cliffs. It is flat, shaded and entirely sufficient for a lovely morning.

The Petite Cascade

About two kilometres from the dam, on a clear and mostly gentle path, a waterfall of roughly ten metres drops into a pool. Allow around 45 minutes to an hour each way at an unhurried pace. Some broken concrete steps lead to the best viewpoint; you can see the fall perfectly well without climbing them.

The Grande Cascade

The big one lies further up the gorge — figure on something like two hours of walking each way, with around 250 metres of climbing in total. Past the Petite Cascade the trail turns rougher: steeper sections, mud after rain, and river crossings made on concrete blocks left from washed-out bridges. It is well marked with orange arrows, but it is a genuine hike, not a stroll.

God's Bridge

A huge natural rock arch spanning the river, reached by the right-hand path in roughly 45 minutes to an hour one way, with about 200 metres of ascent. The route crosses and recrosses the stream on stepping stones and homemade footbridges, then climbs steeply to the viewpoint. Spectacular — but the final climb is the hardest ground at Akchour, and in spring the low sections can flood.

A waterfall at Akchour.

A day trip nearby

Akchour works best as the day trip, not the base — and the place it pairs with is Chefchaouen, roughly 45 minutes to an hour away by road.

The blue-painted medina is the obvious companion to a day by the river: one day of water and trees, one day of lanes and doorways. Chefchaouen is built on a slope, so it has its own stair problem, but the Outa el Hammam square beneath the kasbah is flat, shaded and made for sitting.

If you have a driver for the day, the road between Chefchaouen and Akchour is itself worth the fare. It climbs through olive terraces and cork oak with long views back over the valley, and there are places to pull over where you can take in the whole sweep of the Rif without walking a step.

Akchour, in the Chefchaouen area of northern Morocco.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• The first kilometre is flat and easy; after that it is a real mountain trail. The path from the dam towards the Petite Cascade is gentle and clearly marked. Beyond it, expect rock, roots, steep pitches and stream crossings. There is no shame in turning back at the pool — plenty of people do.
• No walk here is wheelchair accessible, and there are no handrails, benches or paved sections outside the café terraces. Walking poles help enormously on the stony parts.
• Wear shoes with grip. The riverside rock is often wet and slippery, and the stepping stones wobble. Trainers with worn soles are the main cause of trouble here.
• Go early. Leave Chefchaouen soon after breakfast: the gorge is shaded in the morning, the trail is quieter, and you avoid walking in the hottest hours.
• Watch the return. Shared taxis thin out through the late afternoon, and you do not want to be negotiating for a ride at dusk. Agree a pick-up time with a driver, or start back by mid-afternoon.
• Bring cash in small notes, plus water, a hat and sun cream. Do not count on cash machines or card payment in the valley.
• Base yourself in Chefchaouen. There are a few simple guesthouses near Akchour, but the comfortable rooms, pharmacies and choice of restaurants are all in town.
• Skip the trip after heavy rain, when the crossings can be genuinely hazardous, and think twice in July and August, when the heat is strong and Moroccan holidaymakers fill the valley.

The river at Akchour.

What to eat

Akchour's food is delightfully uncomplicated. Along the riverbank, and thickest around the reservoir above the dam, sit dozens of small open-air kitchens: a grill, a few plastic chairs, a cooler of drinks and a view of the water.

The staple is tagine — chicken with olives and preserved lemon, or a vegetable version heavy with carrot, courgette and potato — cooked slowly and brought to the table still bubbling. Brochettes and grilled chicken are the other standbys, usually with bread, a simple salad and, if you ask, a plate of olives.

To drink: mint tea, poured from a height into small glasses, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Both are excellent and both come sweet unless you say otherwise — bla sukkar means without sugar.

Our advice is to eat on the way back rather than the way out. A tagine takes time to cook, the terraces empty in mid-afternoon, and a long, slow lunch with your feet near the water is the proper reward for the morning's walking. In Chefchaouen that evening, look out for goat cheese from the surrounding hills — a speciality of this corner of the Rif.

Getting there

Akchour has no airport, no train and no tourist office. Every trip begins in Chefchaouen.

Shared grand taxis leave from near Plaza Mohammed V in Chefchaouen, by the post office and police station; they go when full, so departures are most frequent early in the morning. The ride takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour on a winding mountain road. Many travellers over 60 prefer to hire the whole taxi for the day — you leave when you like, you come back when you like, and the cost split between two or three people is modest. Drivers usually stop at the park gate, leaving a level walk of around a kilometre through the village to the dam.

Our verdict

Akchour is one of the few famous places in Morocco that rewards doing less. The scenery is at its most beautiful in the first half-hour of walking, when the gorge closes in and the water lies still and green between the rocks — and that half-hour is the easiest ground on the whole trail.

If you are a confident walker with good knees, the Grande Cascade and God's Bridge are fine, memorable hikes. If you are not, nothing is lost. Take the early taxi, walk out as far as feels right, turn around, order a tagine at a table above the water and stay until the light goes long and gold on the cliffs.

We would come back tomorrow, and we would not go one step further than last time.

Still water reflecting the rock at Akchour, Morocco.

“At Akchour the river does the travelling; you only have to sit beside it.”

Photo credits

• Akchour waterfalls - National park of Talassemtane: Jodal rachid, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Akchour mountain: Safaa2606, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Akchour waterfall: Itachoo1, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Akchour, Chefchaouen 2: GuHKS, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Akchour river: Wardayl, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• The Mirror: Alisayem, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons