Western Moroccan Sahara by 4x4: which route to choose?

Hi everyone,

After 40 years of traveling in Morocco, I want to explore a new area by 4x4—the Western Moroccan Sahara, which I don’t know very well. I have plenty of tracks and itineraries, but I’d love some info to help me decide on the best route:

Part 1:

I want to do the ASSA - SMARA crossing. Basically, I have two options: the first follows the Draa River and goes through M’SIED, and the second is much further south, passing through LABOUIRAT and heading straight to SMARA.



If you have any details on road conditions, driving restrictions, etc., I’d really appreciate it.

Part 2: SMARA - BIR ANZERANE - DAKHLA – here, I also have two routes. The first heads west from Smara toward Sidi Kathari. The second goes east from SMARA and gets pretty close to the border at one point (about 10 km away). Both routes meet up about 150 km later and are nearly identical from there to BIR ANZERANE and DAKHLA.



Again, any info would be great.

Thanks, everyone.

Hi,

You don’t mention a problem that’s actually crucial for choosing your route, so I’m bringing it up here: The real danger of the tracks in this part of Morocco is the antipersonnel mines scattered all over the place. Especially in large areas on either side of the sand walls. You absolutely must stay on the tarmac and on the "marked" tracks (...though I don’t really know what distinguishes them from unmarked tracks).

Murielle

hi there I sent you a private message.. for the first part, last year the green track was fine for the second part, watch out for military maneuvers around Bir Anzarane.. I’d go with the first route for extra safety. But you can ask around in Smara..🙂

I’m familiar with the issues in this area, and I don’t want to venture into dangerous zones. The tracks I’m mentioning are ones that many people have already taken.