Ifrane's Lake District — Cedars, Macaques and Cool Air

Ifrane is unlike anywhere else in the country. Built as a hill station in the 1930s, it has steep-pitched roofs, tidy gardens and a stone lion sculpture that have earned it the nickname the Switzerland of Morocco. At around 1,650 metres it enjoys cool summers and snowy winters, and the presence of the English-language Al Akhawayn University gives the town an unusually manicured, campus feel. It makes a comfortable, offbeat base far removed from the medina bustle elsewhere.

Just down the road, Azrou is earthier and more workaday, a market town on the edge of the great cedar forest and a better window on everyday Middle Atlas life. Between and around the two towns lies the plateau's real draw: a scatter of lakes, or dayets, cupped in old volcanic craters, ringed by farmland and forest and alive with birds. This is a landscape for slow drives, gentle walks and picnics rather than headline sights.

Dayet Aoua is the most accessible and best known of the crater lakes, an easy loop from Ifrane where reeds fringe the water and, in a good year, the surface mirrors the surrounding hills. Its level rises and falls markedly with rainfall, so some years it brims and others it shrinks; either way it is a fine spot for birdwatching, with waterfowl, herons and migrants using the wetland. Nearby Dayet Ifrah offers a wilder, quieter version of the same scene.

Further south, closer to Khenifra, Aguelmam Azigza is a deeper, darker lake set among cedar and pine, popular with Moroccan families for lakeside picnics and camping in summer. The high mountain lake of Aguelmame Sidi Ali, higher and more austere, rewards those willing to drive further into the range. Together these lakes form a loose touring circuit best explored with your own transport.

None of these are developed resorts; expect simple pleasures, occasional cafés and the odd boatman rather than watersports centres.

The Azrou cedar forest is the ecological star of the Middle Atlas, a vast stand of Atlas cedar that once cloaked far more of these mountains. Among the trees you can still find enormous, centuries-old specimens; the most famous, long known as the Cèdre Gouraud after a French general, became a landmark until it died and fell years ago, though its stump and successors still draw curious visitors.

The forest is the easiest place in Morocco to see wild Barbary macaques, which gather near the roads and picnic areas. It is precisely because they are so easy to see that visitors should resist feeding them: handouts of bread, biscuits and crisps harm the monkeys' health and disrupt a species already classed as threatened. Watch, photograph from a respectful distance and move on. Early morning and late afternoon are the calmest times to visit, before and after the day-trip crowds.

Away from the roadside, the cedar forest rewards a short walk on foot. Marked and informal trails lead among the big trees, where the air is resinous and cool and the only sounds are birds and the occasional troop moving through the branches. Even a half-hour stroll from a picnic area gives a far better sense of the forest than viewing it from a car window, and it usually leaves the crowds and the boldest macaques behind. Wear decent shoes, as the ground can be rooty and uneven.

The classic outing loops from Ifrane through the cedar forest at Azrou to one or two of the lakes, with a stop to see the macaques and a lakeside picnic or trout lunch. It slots neatly into a journey between Fes and the desert, or between Fes and the Marrakech direction, breaking the drive with cool air and greenery. Our Ifrane restaurants and food guide covers where to eat trout and warm up over hearty mountain fare in town.

With your own car you can extend the circuit toward Khenifra and the higher lakes, or continue on the scenic roads that eventually drop toward the Ziz valley and the pre-Sahara. Public transport reaches Ifrane and Azrou by bus and grand taxi from Fes and Meknes, but the lakes and forest are far easier with a vehicle or a hired driver. Football fans routing through the region for 2030 can tie this into a base in the nearby imperial city via our Fes World Cup 2030 guide.

Late spring through autumn is the prime window for the lakes and forest, when the plateau is green, the macaques are active and the weather is mild. Summer here is a genuine escape from the heat of Fes, Meknes and the plains, which is exactly why Moroccan families flock to the lakeshores in July and August; expect company at the popular spots.

Winter transforms the region into Morocco's snow country. Ifrane and the nearby Michlifen area draw skiers and snow-day trippers, and the cedar forest under snow is a memorable sight, though roads to the outlying lakes can be icy or blocked. If you are chasing the lakes specifically, avoid deep winter; if you want snow and a mountain-town atmosphere, that is the season to come. For those pairing the region with proper mountain trekking, our Talassemtane National Park guide covers the greener Rif to the north.

Bear in mind, too, that the Middle Atlas is a place travellers pass through as much as a destination in itself. Many experience it as a scenic half-day between Fes and the desert, and that is a perfectly good way to enjoy it, but the region rewards those who linger with a night in Ifrane or Azrou. An overnight lets you catch the forest and lakes in the soft early light, when wildlife is active and the day-trippers have yet to arrive.

Bring layers whatever the season: even summer evenings turn cool at altitude, and mountain weather shifts quickly. There are few formal facilities at the lakes, so carry water, snacks and a rubbish bag, and be ready for basic or no toilets. Fuel up in Ifrane, Azrou or Khenifra rather than relying on finding a station out on the plateau.

The single most important thing you can do here is to leave the wildlife wild: do not feed the macaques, keep the lakeshores and forest clear of litter, and give grazing flocks and their shepherds room. The Middle Atlas is a fragile, much-loved landscape, and low-impact visits keep it that way. For the wider country context and official information, visitmorocco.com is a reliable reference.