Best known for its mesmerizing blue streets, Chefchaouen also has far lesser-known sides which are barely explored by most visitors who come here. In fact, the blue city is surrounded by an incalculable number of secluded nooks, nestled deep within its wooded mountainous surroundings.

Branches off the city’s eastern exit road, Route de Tisemlale is a gravel path that meanders through the hilly terrain of Talassemtane National Park, linking Chefchaouen with the town of Bab Taza. This tricky to find road serves as a gateway to many of the natural wonders around Chefchaouen, including a couple of hiking trails that crisscross the nearby Rif Mountains, one of North Africa’s largest mountain ranges.

Past the luxuriant pine forest along the route’s first kilometer, you’ll reach an off-road lookout that offers expansive views of the city’s patchwork of blue houses, streets and mosques, as well as a distant glimpse of the green hinterland around. From that point onwards, all signs of civilization become scarcer, with very few tin shacks dotting the landscape.

Following a 3.2-kilometer hike (one hour by foot) from the route’s starting point, you’ll finally reach the article’s protagonists, the hanging rocks. Precariously perching on the ragged slopes along the main route, this series of oddly shaped limestone rocks have been sculpted by the elements for quite some time. It seems as if one rock in particular stands out over all the others, featuring a jagged shaped at its tip. Depending on your imagination, the rock’s beak-like crest can look like a bird, a dinosaur or as locals call it, the executioner, in reference to its heading axe-shaped silhouette.

Take note that while the route is accessible for cars, it’s extremely not recommended to choose this option. As unless you have a 4WD vehicle, driving along the pothole ridden and shoulder-free road is considered challenging and unsafe.

The pine forest along the Route de Tisemlale

photography by: Omri Westmark

Overlooking the blue city of Chefchaouen, Tisemlale's main lookout

photography by: Omri Westmark

Chefchaouen, as seen from the lookout

photography by: Omri Westmark

The narrow dirt road and a view of the blue city from afar

photography by: Omri Westmark

The area's craggy terrain

photography by: Omri Westmark

The looming silhouette of the hanging rocks

photography by: Omri Westmark

A dinosaur, a bird or a heading axe? It's up for you to decide

photography by: Omri Westmark

The cluster of natural sculptures across the slope

photography by: Omri Westmark

A frontal perspective of the jagged rock

photography by: Omri Westmark

The hanging rocks

photography by: Omri Westmark

The rock formations were sculpted by the wind and rain over millennia

photography by: Omri Westmark

The rock formation along the dirt road

photography by: Omri Westmark