The other big erg. Forty kilometres of dunes reached by 4x4 from the last village on the Draa, with a few camps, no town, and the emptiest sky in Morocco.
M'Hamid El Ghizlane is where the tarmac ends: a village of a few streets at the bottom of the Draa Valley, 95 km south of Zagora. Beyond it, the Sahara begins in earnest, and after 50 km of piste — about an hour and a half by 4x4 across stony plain, dry lake and scrub — you reach Erg Chigaga, a field of dunes about 40 km long. The dunes are lower than Merzouga's (up to about 60 m against 150) but the place feels wilder: no village at the edge, no lines of camel caravans at sunset, a handful of camps spread over a wide area and, most nights, no one else in sight. It takes more time and a 4x4, which is why our Chigaga tours are private and three or four days long, from Marrakech or Agadir. If you have done Merzouga before, or if empty matters more to you than tall, this is the erg.
A few camps across 40 km of dunes. From most tents you see no other light at night.
The drive in is part of the trip: Lake Iriqui (a dry lake bed after rain a real lake), nomad tents, the first isolated dunes, then the erg.
Agdz, Zagora, Tamegroute and the palm groves: a day's worth of scenery before the desert.
Chigaga's camps range from comfortable to genuinely luxurious, most with private tents and en-suite bathrooms, some with a pool.
From Zagora, two hours of tarmac to M'Hamid, then the 4x4 takes over. Your own vehicle on our tours is a 4x4 for the whole trip, so there is no change of car. The piste is bumpy but not extreme; children and older travellers manage it fine.
Comfort camps with private tents and shared or private bathrooms; luxury camps with en-suite tents, proper beds, a lounge tent and sometimes a small pool. Dinner, breakfast and the camel ride are included. [Camp names TO CONFIRM]
Lower and rounder than Erg Chebbi, spread over a wider area. Sunset and sunrise walks, sandboarding, and — on the 4-day tours — a morning 4x4 loop through the erg to the far dunes.
PrivateYour own vehicle and driver-guide, pick-up at your door.
PrivateYour own vehicle and driver-guide, pick-up at your door.
PrivateYour own vehicle and driver-guide, pick-up at your door.
| From | Road time | How our tours do it |
|---|---|---|
| Marrakech | ~460 km to M'Hamid · 9 h, + 1.5 h piste | 3-day: night 1 in Zagora or the Draa Valley, Chigaga night 2; 4-day: two desert nights |
| Zagora | 95 km · 2 h + piste | Day 2 of the Chigaga tours |
| Agadir | ~530 km · 8 h via Taroudant, Taliouine, Ouarzazate | 3-day Agadir to Erg Chigaga |
| Foum Zguid (out) | ~60 km piste + 260 km to Marrakech · 6 h | The return day |
| Merzouga | ~450 km · 8–9 h | Not on our tours (different trips) |
Three days minimum, four to do it justice, a 4x4 all the way. Tell us your dates and whether you start from Marrakech or Agadir.
Essential cookies make the site work. With your permission we also use analytics (which pages are read) and marketing cookies (Google Ads, so we can show you our tours again after you leave). You choose; nothing loads before you do. Privacy policy
