On a cool January afternoon, I scaled a dirt path shaded by the limestone peaks of Morocco's Rif Mountains. As I walked, an elderly woman pulled up water from a well peeking out of the cacti ...

Merzouga, a small Moroccan town in the Sahara Desert and the gateway to Erg Chebbi—a vast expanse of sand dunes—is slowly but surely earning the badge of an ideal New Year’s Eve destination.