El Djouf

The stony desert inland from the lower Draa belongs to the vast western Sahara. Here bare plateaus and dry watercourses stretch between the Saguia el-Hamra country and the Tindouf basin. The Hamada of the Draa is a broad rocky tableland, cut off from the river valley by an escarpment. Sparse rain and great distances make this a severe landscape, with exposed rock and gravel covering much of the ground.