Cascades d'Akchour near Chefchaouen / Talassemtane National Park / Rif Mountains, Chefchaouen Province, Morocco

The Cascades d'Akchour consisted of a lower waterfall and a much taller upper waterfall so I'm writing this in case it may be of benefit to others

Chefchaoen to Akchour day trip, hike, waterfalls

You can do a day trip to Akchour from Chefchauen and hike up to a waterfall and see a natural rock bridge

It's a great little day out

The usual advice applies - wear decent footwear, carry some water and snacks and some warm clothing, depending on the season

Grand taxis leave Chefchaoen for the 45 minutes or so trip to Akchour. There always seems to be a steady trickle of tourists heading there

To find the grand taxis in Chefchaoen, exit the medina at Bab Al Ain, walk straight along Boulevard Hassan 2 to the circle, take the first right exit and you'll find the taxis just down that street

The fare is 25 Dh per person one way

In Akchour there are a few cafés near the grand taxi stand and car park as well as stalls along the walking trails that can rustle up a drink or tagine

It's advisable to carry some water and snacks anyway

Walk 5 minutes beyond the carpark to the small dam

The route the the rock bridge / Bridge of God / Pont de Dieu goes off to the right at the dam

The route to the waterfalls goes to the left over the dam

It takes maybe 45 minutes to walk up to the Pont de Dieu, climbing quite high up the valley side

You can walk over the top of the rock bridge itself to the other side of the valley

A track leads from there up the hillside and eventually descends back down near to the dam (I didn't walk this part of the track myself, and only found out where it went later on)

You can also follow the stream bed from near to the dam for a view of the Pont de Dieu from below. This involves some crossing of the stream on rocks and small bridges

The walk from the dam to the Grande Cascade takes about 2 hours up and 1 1/2 hours back down again

There are little tea shops here and there along the way

You reach the petite Cascade after about one hour

Beyond the petite cascade the route is a little tricky with lots of crossing and recrossing the stream on stepping stones

Returning to Chefchaoen, go to the grand taxi station and wait for other passengers to turn up

Don't leave it too late in the day to try to return or there maybe few taxis around