Some roads are just a way to get somewhere. Tissadrine Road is the destination. Cut into the Dadès Gorges roughly 18 kilometers past the Valley of the Figs, on the classic overland route between Marrakech and Merzouga, this short stretch of tarmac has become one of the most photographed roads in Morocco — and a genuine test of nerve for anyone behind the wheel.

A road built by the landscape

The Dadès Gorges are a series of rugged wadi gorges carved out by the Dadès River, which originates in the High Atlas and flows some 350 kilometers southwest before joining the Draa River at the edge of the Sahara. The canyon walls here range anywhere from 200 to 500 meters high — a scale shaped by deep geological time. The rock now forming the gorges once sat at the bottom of an ancient sea, where sediment built up around coral reefs and compacted into sandstone and limestone before the movement of the Earth's crust lifted it all into the Atlas Mountains.

It's within this canyon country that Tissadrine Road makes its climb. The road's difficult driving characteristics are visible from a distance thanks to the region's rugged relief, and at the top of the mountain sits a restaurant with panoramic terraces where travelers can take in the view. Seen from above, the comparison that keeps coming up is a serpent — from that vantage point the road looks like a snake descending the mountain in a tight zigzag, with curves that approach 180 degrees.

Driving the bends

Locally the switchbacks are sometimes called the Tisderine Bends, and they carry a reputation that's outpaced reality. Photos of the hairpins are so widely used that they're often mistaken for the Tizi n'Tichka pass over the High Atlas between Marrakech and Ouarzazate — but the real Tissadrine climb sits further east, past the Dades Valley's Monkey Fingers rock formation.

By most contemporary accounts the drive itself is manageable for anyone paying attention: the surface has been substantially improved from its rougher past, and traffic — including trucks — moves through steadily. The advice locals tend to give is simple: take it slow, and stop at the top for a coffee once your pulse settles.

From above, the road looks like a serpent descending the mountain, zig-zagging through curves that approach 180 degrees.

What's around it

Tissadrine Road sits within a wider stretch of scenery that regularly gets called Morocco's most photogenic drive:

• Monkey Fingers — thin, eroded rock pillars near Boumalne Dades, formed where softer rock wore away around harder stone, best seen at golden hour.
• The Road of 1,000 Kasbahs — the stretch from Ouarzazate through Skoura, lined with earthen fortresses built by Berber tribes for defense against rivals and the elements.
• The Rose Valley — around El Kelaa M'Gouna, where Damascus rose bushes line the riverbanks and feed Morocco's rose water and rose oil industry.
• Todra Gorge — further along the route, where limestone walls rise over 300 meters and draw climbers from around the world.

Part of a longer journey

Tissadrine Road rarely appears on its own in a Morocco itinerary — it's one scene in a longer script. The typical route runs from Marrakech over the High Atlas, through the Dades Valley and its gorges, on to Tinghir and the Todra Gorges, before finally reaching the dunes at Merzouga on the edge of the Sahara. Most travelers cover it as part of a multi-day desert tour, splitting the drive with stops in Ouarzazate and overnight stays in Dades Valley guesthouses.

The road itself takes a few minutes to drive. The view from the restaurant terrace at the top, most people agree, is worth considerably longer.