Erg Chigaga dunes, the fascinating Sahara desert in Morocco

Morocco desert trip

Erg Chigaga dunes, the fascinating Sahara desert in Morocco

Erg Chegaga or Erg Chigaga is one of the beautiful sand dunes in southeast Morocco. Located about 500 km from the city of Marrakech, 310 km from Ouarzazate and only 45 km from the small village of Mhamid. With its golden sea dunes and variegated Erg, we can definitely call it the fascinating Sahara desert of Morocco. This wild Moroccan Sahara can only be explored on a 4×4 tour or old-fashioned camel trek if you love real adventures.

We have two types of desert in the country: rocky desert which we call REG and sandy desert which we call ERG. To explore Chegaga you have the option of off-roading from Reg to Erg to better understand our epic Sahara experience.

After the dunes of Erg Chebbi, Chegaga is the most common destination for any traveler looking for adventure in the Sahara desert of Morocco.

Erg chegaga tour from Marrakech

The red city of Marrakech is the tourist capital of Morocco. It is the best point where you can start your desert adventure towards Chigaga Dunes. 3 days from Marrakech to Erg Chegaga would be enough not only to explore Erg Chigaga and spend a night in these majestic dunes but also to visit the largest palm valley in Morocco, the Draa valley, visit the UNESCO site of Ait Ben Haddou.

You can also get to the Chegaga Dunes from Agadir or another city. Make sure the best way to reach the dunes is by 4WD car, around 2 hours of off-road vehicle or camel trek.

Desert fields in the Chegaga Dunes

Lodgings in the Sahara are tented camps, adequately equipped with the required comforts. A desert camp in Chegaga can accommodate up to 50 people in the open air, making it the best place to enjoy star gazing or just a good time around the fire in the winter.

There are several Sahara desert camps in Erg Chigaga, offering all the entertainment for a magical night. There is always the opportunity to ride camels from these fields. The luxury desert camps offer everything you need for comfort in this wilderness in the middle of the dunes where you can see nothing but the dunes on the horizon.

Staying in a desert camp costs between $60 and $200 a night, however this price can go up and down depending on the quality of the camp and the season.

Desert Trips From Mhamid:

Mhamid El Ghizlane is a small village center where the paved road ends and where the Ergs begins. This town hosts the Taragalte Festival every year a few kilometers from the village. The city is known for its desert trips to Erg Chegaga which would require just a few kilometers to drive off-road.

Sahara desert trekking is also one of the best activities you can start from Mhamid. Walk side by side with camels while enjoying the peaceful environment of the Sahara. This type of adventure is very famous in the Chigaga region and lasts more than a week.

Highlights of the nearby Erg Chegaga desert:

Erg Lihoudi: small dunes a few minutes’ drive from Mhamid. Where you can also spend a night under the starry night of the Sahara.

lriki Lake: It is a dry lake in the Iriqui National Park, one of the highlights of the exploration of the Sahara in Erg Chegaga in the direction of Foum Zguid. It offers an exotic landscape of a flat plateau over 40km long.

Draa Valley: home to the largest palm grove in the country with the longest hydraulic irrigation system. It stretches for more than 200 km, starting from the Ouarzazate Dam eastwards and then westwards to Mhamid Elghizlan.

The Kasbahs and the Ksar: there are interesting Berber architectures to discover in this region, as in the case of the Kasbahs of Ait Ben Haddou 30 km before Ouarzazate.

Tamgroute village: A few kilometers from Zagora you will find the village of Tamgroute, home to the local poetry craft business, as well as the most influential historical Zaouia (Brotherhood/lodge), known as zaouia Nasiriyya (1603–1674).

Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga tour?

If you are looking for Moroccan Sahara desert tour wondering Erg Chebbi or Erg Chigaga want to see?

Both Ergs offer a camel riding experience, overnight in a desert camp and incredible scenery. However Erg Chebbi is easy to access, the paved road reaches the village of Merzouga a few meters from the dunes, allowing you to get supplies and services including post, bus, hospital…

Erg Chegaga is the wildest desert in Morocco and needs a few hours of off-road driving to reach the camp. If you want more ‘in the wild’ adventures then Chegaga may be better. As mentioned above, it is a place for Sahara trekking if you are into such wild adventures or anyone interested in desert photography in Morocco.