Khopra Ridge Trek

Drive Duration: 7 hours | Drive Distance: 215 km Altitude: 2,760 ft Highlights: The drive through the rolling hills of Nepal. The lakeside near the hotel. Reach Pokhara on your own before 4.00 PM. You can find different ways to reach Pokhara in the ‘Hot to reach’ section of the trek page. Your stay in Hotel, will be booked by Himalyan Daredevils. You don’t need to pay extra for this. You will meet the rest of the team at the hotel. The briefing will be conducted at the hotel at 6.00 PM on Day 1. Go for a walk by the lakeside after the briefing and retire early after dinner. You’ll need to conserve energy for the long trek ahead!

Drive Distance: 56 km | Trek Duration: 2.5 hours Trek Distance: 3.7 km | Trek Duration: 2 hours Difficulty: Easy – Moderate. Gradual ascent from Kimsee to Ghandruk. Highlights: The up close views of majestic mountains. We’ll leave the hotel at 8.00 AM. The drive from Pokhara to Kimsee will take around 2.5 hours. You cover around 60 km during this time. Have lunch at Kimsee before you begin the trek to Ghandruk. The initial trail from Kimsee is narrow and runs through a village. The river to your left is Modi Khola. On the opposite side of the mountain, you can spot the trail for the Mardi Himal trek. Ghandruk becomes visible after 1.5 hours of trekking. The trail continues to ascend gradually. As you approach Ghandruk, after about another hour, the view starts opening up. You see Mt Himculi and Mt Annapurna south. This is just the beginning of mountain views. As you ascend some more, Mt Machapuchare (the ‘fishtail’ mountain) welcomes you. This is also an indication that you are very close to your first tea house. Ghandruk is the largest village in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA). You will see old stone and slate-roofed houses lining the slope. You will also find a lot of tea houses spread through the entire village.

Trek Duration: 4.5 hours | Trek Distance: 6.40 km Altitude Gain:6,561 ft to 8,705 ft Difficulty: Moderate. Mix of gradual ascent and level walk on forest trails. Highlights: Beautiful rhododendron forests. To go to Tadapani from Ghandruk, begin by walking through the narrow path running through the village. Within 5 minutes, you reach a junction. From here, the ACA is divided into two parts – Central ACA AND Western ACA. Central ACA leads to Kommorong and further ahead to ABC. For Tadapani, proceed on the Western ACA. The trail here consists of steps cut into the rocks. After climbing for 10 minutes on these steps, you will reach the first viewpoint. This is the “Lovely viewpoint”. From here, you will be able to sight Mt Annapurna South, Mt Himchuli, Mt Ganga Purna, Mt Annapurna III and Mt Machapuchare (fishtail). These mountains stay with you on your right as you move ahead. As you proceed on the trail, you enter a forest trail dominated by a variety of tall trees. Very soon you hear the faint sounds of a waterfall in the distance. The dense canopy of the trees above coupled with moist air from the flowing stream gives you a fresh respite. Rhododendron trees also make an appearance here. You will see big red flowers on these if you are trekking here in April. Follow the forest trail till you reach a small bridge. From here you get a perfect view of the source of the stream. Take a break here and refill your water bottles. The next section is a steep ascent for about 45 minutes. As you climb up along the small waterfall, you will reach Bhaisi Kharka, a small village in the far western region of Nepal. This is 5 km from Ghandruk. The rest of the day’s hike will take you through similar but denser forest trails. Rhododendrons dominate here. These are unusually high if you have only seen the shorter trees in the Indian Himalayas. At certain places, the branches of the trees intertwine on the top to form a gateway for the trail ahead. Another 2 hours of trekking brings you to the tea houses at Tadapani. Have lunch here. End the day with a perfect sunset view of Mt Machapuchare.

Trek Duration: 6.5 hours | Trek Distance: 6.2 km Altitude Gain: 8,705 ft to 11,225 ft Difficulty: Moderate-difficult. Gradual ascent through forest trails, with a short descent towards the beginning. Last one hour of the trail is above the tree line. Highlights: A series of majestic mountains lined up one after the other. Similar to the previous day, the trek starts today starts on a forest trail filled with rhododendrons and bamboo. The Annapurna range accompanies you on the right. As you trek further, the trail enters deep forests. Oaks appear here. Now, the trail descends. After about 30 minutes, you again start climbing up. This brings you very close to the tree line. From here, you can see the ridge which is a part of the trail from Dobato to Khopra Ridge. After an hour’s climb, you reach Meshar. Fill your water bottles here. Straight ahead of you are Mt Annapurna (10th highest mountain in the world) and Mt Annapurna Fang (7,647 m). The 2 mountains remain visible for the next two hours, till you reach Isharu. From Meshar, the trail gradually ascends till Isharu, the second viewpoint of the day. You are just above the tree line here. The views from Isharu are outstanding – the panorama includes Mt Annapurna II, Mt Annapurna IV, and Mt Ganesha Himal along with other peaks of the Annapurna range. The next hour till Dobato is a mix of ascent and descent. After reaching Dobato, have lunch at the teahouse. After a short break, set out for the best place on this trek – the Muldhai peak viewpoint. There is a reason this place has such a reputation among locals. You see twenty-two snow peaks out of which two are among the fourteen highest mountains in the world – Mt Dhaulagiri I (7th highest) and Mt Annapurna I (9th highest). The complete Annapurna and Dhaulagiri range with Mt Tukuche and Mt Nilgiri North and South are a sight to behold, especially at sunset. If you want to witness this magic again, don’t forget to come back for sunrise the next day.

Trek Distance: 9.2 km |Trek Duration: 6-7 hours Altitude Gain & Loss: 11,220 ft to 9,678 ft via 11,811 ft Difficulty: Difficult. A complete ridge walk with steep ascents till Chhistibang. You can refill your water bottles from streams and tea houses on the way. Start early from Dobato since it’s a long day today. After 30 minutes of ascent, you will reach a junction. The trail to the right leads to the hidden lake and the one to the left goes to Khopra Ridge. Halt here and capture the last view of all the mountain peaks of the Annapurna range. Don’t worry, these mountain views will soon be replaced by the Dhaulagiri range. Take the trail leading to Khopra ridge. After 15 minutes, the Dhaulagiri range appears to the left. This is also an indication that you are close to your first rest point, Muldai Top. From Muldai Top, the trail descends for two hours through a forest. This brings you to Chhistibang, a tea house inside the forest. Have lunch here and rest for the day!

Trek Distance: 3.5 km |Trek Duration: 3 hours Altitude Gain: 9,678 ft to 11,975 ft From Chhistibang, the trail ascends continuously. There are multiple small streams and small waterfalls all along. On both sides of the ridge, clouds form a small playground and enchant you with their changing forms. From here, every step towards Khopra takes you up close to the Dhaulagiri range. Watch the sun and clouds prepare for a perfect sunset. On reaching Khopra, you see majestic mountain ranges all around you. Mt Annapurna South, Mt Annapurna Fang, Mt Annapurna I, Mt Nilgiri South and North, Mt Tukuche and the Dhaulagiri range welcome you. The tea house here itself is a viewpoint.

Trek Duration: 8-9 hours | Trek Distance: 16 km Altitude Gain and Loss: ⇗ 3,325 ft; ⇘ 3,325 ft (11,975 ft to 15,300 ft, and back to 11,975 ft) Difficulty: Difficult. Starts with gradual ascent on a ridge and becomes steeper as you proceed. Carry two litres of water. After the first three hours, there are no water sources. Highlights: The alpine lake at the foothills of Mt Annapurna South Start early today. It’s the summit day and the longest day of the trek. The initial 45 mins is a level walk with scenic views of the Dhaulagiri range. The trail turns into a ridge walk with multiple climbs and descents for the next two hours. Take a look to your left – in addition to the Dhaulagiri range, you will see the world’s deepest valley, Kaligandaki, between Mt Tukuche and Mt Nilgiri North. Slowly the trail brings you to an open field surrounded by barren mountains. This is similar to the cold desert landscape of Spiti in the Indian Himalayas. This also means that you are approaching Khayar lake. A small dhaba at Khayar Ghat welcomes you with some local tea and snacks. From here, it is another 1.5 hours trek to Khayar lake. The trail ascends continuously from here, on steps. All along, there are symbols of a temple and bells clubbed together, which is a sign of khayar lake and mythological stories of the area. Before you see the lake, you see Mt Annapurna South. The lake is at its foothill. The lake is surrounded by praying flags, bells and alone temple. Sit down here for a while and take in the surroundings. You have reached the highest point of the trek. In July a yatra (pilgrimage) is undertaken by Nepalis who visit Khayar lake to seek fulfilment of wishes and sacrifice an animal to lord Shiva. They believe that if their wish comes true, they will have to return as a token of thanksgiving. It will take around 3.5 to reach Khopra Ridge on the same trail. Have lunch at Khayar ghat on the way. Every step on the descent is an ideal spot to view the sunset.

Trek Distance: 8.5 km |Trek Duration: 6.5 hours Altitude Loss:11,975 ft to 6,561 ft

Trek Distance: 4.7 km | Trek Duration: 3 hours Bus Drive Distance: 110 km | Drive Duration: 5 hours Altitude Gain: 6,561 ft to 3,871 ft Difficulty: Easy. Descent through the forests till Tatopani. Highlights: Descent through the forests and water stream. The last day of the trek takes you to Tatopani which falls on the old route for Mansarovar lake. Because of this, it is also known as the old pilgrimage route. It’s a completely easy descent through forests for initial 2 hours. Post that you walk along a water stream till the time you reach Tatopani. Your trek ends here. Take a bus and reach Pokhara.

Ans: 1 The total distance of the Khopra Ridge trek is 55 km. You walk an average of 5 – 7 hours daily. The trek is comfortably completed in 9 days, including travel to and from the base camp. The average distance you will cover is 6-8 km per day and walk for 4-6 hours every day.

Ans: 2 It is considered a moderate trek, considering the duration and altitude of Khopra Ridge. The trek spreads over nine days through a moderate to difficult trail and some steep ascents and descents. It climbs to an altitude of 15,700ft when you reach Khayer Lake.

Ans: 3 Ghandruk is the basecamp of Khopra Ridge trek.