Hoggar Mountains — Assekrem Plateau Viewpoint

Assekrem sits in the Hoggar (Ahaggar) Mountains of southern Algeria, reached by a brutal piste out of Tamanrasset. The plateau was made famous by Charles de Foucauld who built a hermitage here in 1911 — it still stands. At 2,728m above sea level, the air is thin and cold at night even in summer, and the volcanic landscape of jagged black rock and silence is unlike anything else in the Sahara. Sunrises over the rock towers are genuinely otherworldly.

The piste from Tam is roughly 80km of rocky, corrugated track requiring a properly equipped 4WD — don’t attempt it solo or without extra fuel and water. There is a basic refuge/guesthouse run by the White Fathers that can provide shelter. A police permit and registered local guide are typically required for foreigners travelling into the Hoggar — confirm current entry requirements before heading south from Tamanrasset.

Volcanic Sahara plateau at 2,700m.