Dhorpatan Trek

It is a moderate trek with one hard day, and how hard that day is depends on your tier. On The Trail it is a day hike from the valley to Garpachheda at about 4000 metres and back, around eight hours. On The Journey and The Transformation you start from a camp at about 3500 metres and climb to Tikadhara, about 4200 to 4500 metres, and back, around seven hours. The other walking days are two to three hours. The road is demanding too. Getting to Dhorpatan takes 7 to 11 hours from Pokhara, the last part on a rough 4WD track, and the same again on the way out. If long, bumpy days in a vehicle are hard for you, tell us and we will plan around it.

It is lower than the big Himalayan treks but still real altitude. Every tier spends at least two nights in the valley at about 2800 to 3000 metres first. The Trail then day-hikes to about 4000 metres and sleeps in the valley. The Journey sleeps no higher than about 3500 metres. The Transformation sleeps one night at about 4000 metres, only after a night at 3500. Nobody goes straight from the valley to sleep at 4000 metres. Your guide checks how you are doing every day. Mild headache and breathlessness are common and usually pass. If symptoms get worse, we turn around and go down; there are no exceptions to that on any tier. Altitude sickness has no reliable link to fitness or age, so tell your guide early.

You need the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve entry permit: NPR 3000 for foreign nationals and NPR 1500 for SAARC nationals, per entry, with children under 10 free. It is non-refundable and single-entry, and we arrange it for you in Kathmandu on every tier. Dhorpatan is not a restricted area and does not need a special permit. It is not on the Nepal Tourism Board's list of routes that require an agency TIMS card. Filming for a documentary or commercial project, or flying a drone, needs a separate permit from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. The last published fee was 1500 USD for foreign nationals, plus 25 percent with a drone, and drones also need aviation clearance. Tell us before you travel and we will confirm the current fee.

Legally, Dhorpatan is not one of the routes where Nepal requires a licensed guide. In practice the reserve's own visitor rules say never to trek alone, and we agree. Trails above the valley are not always signed, the weather changes fast, there is no working airstrip, and outside summer there is nobody living up there. Every tier includes a licensed guide from Pokhara to Pokhara. Your guide also knows the reserve rules, such as no walking between sunset and sunrise, and keeps you on trekking routes during the autumn hunting season.

By road from Pokhara through Baglung and Burtibang. The last 32 kilometres from Burtibang to the valley are a rough gravel and earth track that needs a 4WD, and it turns muddy after rain. Plan on 7 to 11 hours each way. There is an airstrip at Dhorpatan, but Nepal's aviation authority lists it as not in operation, so there are no flights to the valley. On The Trail you travel from Pokhara by public bus and shared jeep; on The Journey and The Transformation by private 4WD. The Transformation also flies between Kathmandu and Pokhara.

In the valley, in simple lodges or community homestays; there are dozens now. Expect clean, basic rooms, shared bathrooms and cold nights. Hot showers and charging are not a given. Above the valley, in our own tents. The Trail has no tent nights. The Journey has two, at about 3500 metres. The Transformation has three, the last at Garpachheda, about 4000 metres. In Pokhara you stay in a hotel that matches your tier.

There are, in summer. Local families run stays in the herders' stone shelters at Garpachheda during the grazing season, from about June. By mid-September the herders take their animals down, and from early October the meadows are empty and the water freezes at night. In spring and autumn, when we run this trek, the shelters are either not open yet or already closed. So we bring our own: sleeping tents, a kitchen tent and a cook, carried up by the camp crew. It is basic for everyone, on every camping tier. What we can promise up there is warm food, hot drinks and a dry tent, not comfort. You will need a warm sleeping bag; ask us about hiring one.

April to May and October to November. Those months give the most settled weather and the best chance of clear views to the Dhaulagiri range. Snow can linger at lower levels until early April, the monsoon can last into early October, and nights above the valley are well below freezing by November. June to September is when the meadows are greenest and busiest, with herders, flowers and many Nepali trekkers. It is also cloudy, wet, slippery and hard on the road. We run monsoon departures only on request, with a clear briefing first. December to February is cold and windy, and we do not recommend it.

Yes, with the reserve's rules. Dhorpatan is Nepal's only hunting reserve. Licensed trophy hunts for blue sheep and Himalayan tahr take place in designated blocks, mainly in October and November, under small annual quotas. Hunters come with their own permits and staff. Your guide knows where the hunting blocks are and keeps you on trekking routes. The reserve also protects bears, leopards and other wildlife, which is one reason its rules forbid walking between sunset and sunrise. We follow that strictly on every tier. We do not organise or take part in hunting, and we cannot promise wildlife sightings: blue sheep are wary here.

Safety is identical across all tiers: the same licensed guide standard, the same daily altitude checks, the same rule that we go down if symptoms are serious. What changes is how high you sleep, how you travel and how much support walks with you. The Trail is 7 days. You travel by public bus and shared jeep, sleep only in the valley, and day-hike to Garpachheda at about 4000 metres. The Journey is 9 days. You get a private 4WD, two tent nights at about 3500 metres and the full day to Tikadhara. The Transformation is 11 days. It adds flights to Pokhara, a second valley day, a third tent night at Garpachheda for an early start to Tikadhara, and a porter for each person.