Bikepacking in Morocco: The Atlas Mountain Race, and Riding Without Racing

Search for bikepacking in Morocco and one name comes back before any route: the Atlas Mountain Race. It has done more than anything else to put Moroccan piste on the map for riders who carry their own kit, and it is the reason a lot of people first look at the Atlas at all.

We are not involved with the race. We are a guiding company in Imlil that rides the same kind of ground, so this is two things: the facts about the 2027 edition, taken from the organiser, and an honest account of what riding Atlas piste with everything on your bike involves.

The 2027 race, in figures

The organisers say the route has very little tarmac and some walking, and that it runs later in the year than before, after Ramadan, which in 2027 falls between 7 February and 8 March. The first real place to resupply and rest is Tabant, in the Aït Bouguemez valley, 180 km from the start. That single fact tells you most of what you need to know about the spacing of villages on the route.

What the ground asks of a bike

The organiser’s own advice is a hardtail 29er, tyres of at least 2.0 inches, and a lowest gear of at least 1:1. We would agree on all three and go further on the last: on our gravel routes we tell riders that a 1:1 bottom gear means walking the steep loose climbs, and those are climbs on an unloaded bike. Add a week of food, water and a sleeping bag and the gear you thought was spare becomes the one you use most.

Tyre volume matters more than tread. Atlas piste is loose rock over hardpack, stony desert pavement and dry riverbeds, and the thorns in the low valleys go straight through a tube. Run tubeless, carry a plug kit, and choose a casing with sidewall protection over an aggressive tread.

Water, food and navigation

Water is the thing that catches people. There is no tap, café or shop for long stretches, and the dry air hides how much you are losing. Villages sell bread and bottled water, and the bread stalls at a weekly souk are a fine sight on the fourth day of a ride, but they are spaced for the people who live there, not for a rider’s schedule.

Navigation is the other. Piste networks are dense, unsigned and change with the weather: a spring flood can take out a section that every GPS file online still shows. A route someone rode two years ago is a good start and not a guarantee.

And you are riding through people’s homes, not through wilderness. Ask before photographing anyone, dress for a village rather than a race, and accept the tea when it is offered. It is the part of the ride most people remember.

Riding the same ground without racing it

Not everyone who reads about the race wants to enter it. Some want the landscape without the sleep deprivation; some want to see the terrain before they commit to it. The supported version of the same idea is what our gravel tours are: the same piste and the same passes, with the bags, water and spares in a vehicle and a guide who knows which track the last flood took.

Our 6-day gravel tour is the closest thing on our list. It goes over the Atlas to the Draa valley, west across the Anti-Atlas and back over the passes, so it crosses the same two ranges as the race. For a shorter taste, the 2-day High Atlas gravel tour rides the Kik Plateau from Marrakech. And if you want a self-paced route with your own bike and the vehicle carrying your bags, our private and custom tours are built around exactly that kind of request.

Before you go

• Check the race manual and the current route on the organiser’s site. Details change between editions, and the start town already has.
• Read our guide to flying with a bike to Morocco before you book the flight, not after.
• March in the Atlas can mean snow on the passes and warm afternoons in the valleys. Our best-time guide explains the swing month by month.
• Pack for both: the packing list we give tour riders is a good base, minus the things the vehicle would carry.