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7 Best Winter Treks In Uttarakhand

There are many winter treks in Uttarakhand .These treks in Uttarakhand open up the opportunity of breathtaking adventure along with memories of a lifetime. Winter in India brings plenty of snow in Himalayas, which enhance the challenge.

In this blog, we introduce you to 7 Best Winter Treks in Uttarakhand. Although tread by GoAdven enthusiasts every year, these treks in Uttarakhand still offer something new and admirable with every exploration.

The nutty-gritty elements of an ideal trek are- adventure, experience and beautiful sights, which are all apparent in these expeditions. Commence on some of the most memorable journeys, such as those that one reads about only in fables and adventure stories.

The scenery above all, is full of exotic meadows, magical oak forests, refreshing and majestic waterfalls, lakes, remote villages and more.

So here is the list of 7 best winter trek in uttarakhand that you can do in this winter:

Brahmatal Trek – 360° Peak View Winter Trek

Maximum Altitude: About 12,500 ft. above sea level. Duration: Take 4 days to complete. Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate Difficulty. Distance Covered: Approximately 28-30 kilometers

Brahmatal Trek is one of the most surreal and unique experiences you would ever have. The Brahmatal Trek in Garhwal Himalayas is one of most beautiful, picturesque and exciting winter trek in Uttarakhand, though also one of the easiest and beginners trek.

Attracting a number of local and international tourists every year, the path of the trek is covers the a maximum area of forest along with beautiful grass medows. An adventure of a lifetime, Brahmatal trek is among the most beautiful winters treks in India.

The lake is surrounded by massive and pretty grass land . The weather is severely cold during snow fall in month of January, therefore requires a thorough preparation for the excursion.

The word Brahmatal , locally means where Lord Brahma meditate, likewise the name ‘where Lord Brahma meditate in the bank of lake ’. The entire stretch, approximately spans 28 km both side, which takes about 4 days both side. Spend nights in tants or in space provided by the locals is one of the most memorable journey you will ever undertake.

Kuari Pass Winter Trek

Maximum Altitude: About 12,763 ft. above sea level. Duration: Takes about 4-6 days to complete. Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate. Distance Covered: Approximately 33 kilometers.

Kuari Pass is an amazing trek that affords the traveler one of the most incredible sights of majestic Himalayan peaks. Marval at Chaukhamba Range, Mana, Kamet and Abl Gamin, stretching as far as the Tibet border. IN addition, peaks such as the Changabang, Dunagiri, Nanda Ghunti, Dronagiri, Rishi Pahar, Neelkanth are also visible.

The Kuari pass trail is also called Lord Curzon Trail in the honor of the former British Viceroy of India, who first hiked through it. The trek passes through beautiful landscapes. Start from the village of Dhak, after you arrive to Joshimath from Haridwar by road.

The trek approximately takes about 5 days to complete. A tent, a permit, a guide and food supplies are important for a trekker to keep with them, which can be organized at the Joshimath by itself.

Nag Tibba Winter Trek

Maximum Altitude: About 9,924 ft. above sea level. Duration: Takes about 2-3 days to complete. Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate. Distance Covered: Approximately 16 kilometers.

Kedarkantha Winter Trek

Maximum Altitude: About 12,500 ft. above sea level. Duration: 5-6 days Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate. No prior experience of trekking is required. Distance Covered: Approximately 20 kilometers.

One of the classicistic winter treks in India, the Kedarkantha is a beautiful and exciting trail that spans through landscape of unmatched beauty, taking you through mesmerizing remote villages, expansive herbage and meadows, snowy courses and majestic view of the great Himalayas.

The Trek starts with a small village called Sankari, driving to which is too, a scenic excursion. Kedarkantha is one of the easiest trek of the lot and is easily traversable by first timers and children.

The destination is situated in the hills of the Tons valley and the trail takes you through the rich and protected flora and fauna of the Govind National Park. Reaching the target, one can find most elegant views of great mountain ranges such as Swargrohini, Bandarpoonch, Black peak etc. The people of the region are extremely friendly and helpful making the journey easy and comfortable as well as an unforgettable one.

Chopta Chandrashila Winter Trek

Maximum Altitude: Approximately 13,200 ft. above sea level. Duration: Takes about 3-4 days to complete. Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate Distance Covered: Approximately 5 kilometers.

Trek to Chandrashila Summit from Chopta or Deoriya Tal is one of the popular winter treks in Uttarakhand to experience snow.

Chopta Chandrashila trek is one of the famous treks in Himalayas. Located in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, travel to Tunganath, the highest situated Shiva temple in India, also aone of the five Kedar temple revered in Hinduism.

Beyond the temple, the hike actually begins. The trail lets you pass through stunning sights as there is little to refute, the title given to Chopta as the “Mini Switzerland of India”. Situated at the maximum altitude of 12,877 ft. above sea level, this is an all season hike that affords you the most beautiful vision of Nanda Devi, Kedar, Trishul and Chaukhamba peaks and an amazing all-embracing view of the Garhwal Himalayas. The lush, verdant valleys of the region receive heavy snow in winters and present an awesome view. Chandrashila is a short but arduous trek. However, there are fences through the path which makes walking a bit easy.

Har ki Dun Winter Trek

Maximum Altitude: About 11,000 ft. above sea level. Duration: Takes approximately 6-8 days to complete. Difficulty Level: Medium Difficulty. However, no prior experience of trekking is required. Distance Covered: Approximately 90 kilometers.

Har ki Dun is one of most popular treks in the Garhwal region and is relatively moderate enough to let the trekkers with no prior experience to slog through its paths. Lying in the Uttarkashi district of the Uttrakhand state, it is located very close to the border between Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh and is redolent with stretches of beautiful scenes and raw natural beauty that offers real treat for the eyes.

The trail passes through some of the most remote and least explored regions of the Garhwal region. The natives of Garwal are simple-hearted, warm and friendly towards outsiders. Along with the stunning views of the surrounding mountains, the forested path is abundantly blessed. In fact, it is a kind of heaven for the nature lovers and bird watchers.

Situated at the base of Fateh Parvat, Har ki Dun is believed to be the same site from where king Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, ascended to the heaven with a dog. During winters, the place get completely covered with snow and offers excellent spot for the snow trek.

Ali-Bedni Bugyal Trek

Maximum Altitude: About 12,500 ft. above sea level. Duration: 5-7 days Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate. Distance Covered: Approximately 27 kilometers.

When you think of the easiest treks in India, Ali- Bedni Bugyal is the first name on the list. It is  perfect for beginners. Trek through scenic landscapes, dense oak forests and lush green meadows. 

In addition, climb the stunning height of approximately 12,500 ft. above sea level. Ali- Bedni- Bugzi Bugyal, meaning ‘meadow�� in local language is the biggest Grass medows in Asia , it is also an beautiful part of Roopkund trek. Winters in India bring heavy snow to the meadow.

The trek begins from Lohajung village, 280 km from Dehradun. Moreover, enjoy views of beautiful mountains along with view of Bedni Kund . Also, Ali-Bedni is among the most beautiful treks. In fact, it is particularly a favorite for many of the seasoned hikers.

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Brahmatal Trek Experience with GoAdven

This is my first post on Brahmatal trek experience with GoAdven.  This trek journey is dedicated to all the enthusiastic people who are willing to experience the lush green meadows, beauty and aroma of dense rhododendron forest and mesmerizing view of Himalayan ranges at its best. As I am a trek enthusiastic and I have decided to trek with GoAdven one of the Best Trekking Company in Uttarakhand.

I want you to know that any one can sign up for a high-altitude trek and that the most important thing that needs a work out- is our state of mind and positivity.

Once we channel that optimism, everything else before and after the journey will fall into place and re-energize our very soul.

So get rid of the misconception that high-altitude treks are only for the pros, because this was my and my trek mates first Himalayan trek.

Now before I start, here is a brief introduction of Brahmatal, it’s a lake situated in mountain ranges of Uttarakhand Himalayas. Which is at an altitude of 12,100 ft from mean sea level approximately 24 km from the Lohajung Base camp. Brahmatal summit is at an altitude of 12,500 ft from mean sea level approximately 27 km from the Lohajung Base camp.

It was 14th September 2019, I boarded my flight to Delhi from Mumbai, so my trek mates who had reached Mumbai from Solapur along with my Senior Colleague also boarded a different flight from Mumbai to Delhi. We met in Delhi Cant Train Station to catch our train to Kathgodam. Delhi weather was very hot however our overnight journey brought us to a very cool and pleasant weather at Kathgodam.

Day 1- Kathgodam – Lohajung

We were in Kathgodam to start our unforgettable journey of 5 days to the abode of Gods. We were doing the trek with a trekking organization called ‘GoAdven’. We were picked up from Kathgodam railway station in a tempo traveller which was waiting for us and we started or to Lohajung the base camp. The road journey from Kathgodam to Lohajung exposed us to the beauty of Uttarakhand.

The view was breathtaking. We crossed Bhimtal lake, Almora, Kausani and Dhewal to reach Lohajung. This journey was long almost 12 hours including pit stops for breakfast, lunch and evening tea. We reached Lohajung around 6.00PM. We were welcomed by base camp coordinators Dinesh sir and Pradeep sir. Later were served hot dinner after a small briefing.

We were asked to assemble after dinner for going over the itinerary. During this assembling, we were formally introduced to our Trek Leader Pradeep. He started with the team introduction and briefed us on various aspects of the trek like trek itinerary, etiquettes, medical tips, green trail, do’s and don’ts during our trek etc.

After this, we went to our respective rooms and got under the blankets, thinking and fascinating about the upcoming journey. A small intro about the base camp village, “Lohajung, as the locals say, is the place where Goddess Parvati had a war (jung) with the demon, Lohasur. Hence, the name, which translates to war with Lohasur.” Interesting indeed.

Day 2- Lohajung – Bekaltal

Next day morning everyone was awake by 6.00 AM and were excited to the core and was ready to take a giant leap of faith and overcome the thought of dubiousness of reaching the summit. Pradeep sir introduced us to our Trek Guide Manoj.

Pradeep sir was supposed to lead us and Manoj ji played the role of a sweeper (the last man in the group) to make sure no one is left behind but he joined us a bit later along with the cook Prakash and the mules that were carrying our offload bags. Pradeep sir was constantly motivating us to move ahead. We had to cover a distance of 6 km to reach Bekaltal, our next camp.

We started our trek, a climb through the village to reach our next camp. Through we travelled along the track the view was sufficiently beautiful to keep me going. I got so excited that I forgot about my tiredness completely, and thus we reached the Bekaltal camp. I was exhausted, but I was ecstatic for surviving my very first day of trekking.

Everyone was tired after a long trek of 6 hours. We did some stretching exercise to be relived of muscle pains and after that were served lunch at 2PM and had a small nap till 5 PM. In the evening we were served tea and snacks and went to visit the Bekaltal Lake which was located 500m away from our camp. We had our dinner at 8PM and then everyone retired to their tents.

This was our first night in meadows and it was terribly cold, thanks to our trek organizers they had made proper arrangement and were equipped with tents and sleeping bags of superior quality that could withstand -5 degree temperature.

But since it was our first time it was a bit difficult to tuck ourselves inside the bag although our trek leader had given us a demo on “how to use the sleeping bag”. We could hardly sleep on our first day. This was something beyond our regular lives. But in mountains 4 hours of sleep is more than sufficient to rejuvenate ourselves.

Camp at Bekaltal Bekaltal lake

Day 3- Bekaltal – Brahmatal

By the second morning, we woke up at around 6 in the morning; we could see the sun rays entering to our tents. I had gained enough energy and was feeling ready for the day’s trek. The surroundings were sublime and I started thinking that the trek was the best thing of all artificial means of entertainment. Mobile network were getting on and off and whenever we got a chance to speak to our home we did speak to them.

Our trek leaders kept us engaged by narrating inspiring but relevant anecdotes so as to keep us going without thinking about what lay ahead. Crossing the splendid views of mountains and valleys all immersed in fog, we finally managed to reach our stunning basecamp in Brahmatal. I took a stroll around the campsite. The atmosphere was wonderful. And the source of drinking water was the mountain water.

After having some tea in the evening we visited Brahmatal Lake which was around 10 min walk from the camp site and the mesmerizing view of still lake was breathtaking. There is also a small temple made of mountain rocks dedicated to Lord Brahma.

Camp at Brahmatal lake

Day 4- Bramhatal – Bramhatal summit – Forest Base camp

This was the day of the summit. We started our summit walk at 6:40 Am. There was so much excitement in my head. This was going to be our last great ascent in the entire trekking itinerary and all my trek mates really wanted to reach the summit as soon as possible.

Fortunately on this day, the beauty of the route was enough to keep us going. Although the ascent was really tough some times, the trek was a steep climb; the last 1 kilometer was a bit difficult compared to the entire past days trek route.

It was going to be an impeccable journey which was going to leave an indelible impression on us and we had realized that if we were mentally prepared for it, we will achieve it and we did it. We reached the summit by 10:30AM.

The sense of achievement had surpassed the feeling of happiness by a mile. And here all of us, clicking celebratory pictures with our group and making merry quietly in our hearts because this was one moment everyone in my group wanted to cherish forever.

We stayed there for around 2 hr. and started our decent towards our last camp site and the decent was comparatively relaxing to our heart but our knees were getting the pressure.

Day 5: Forest Base camp – Lohajung

Today we descend down to our base camp Lohajung which was a 4 km trail. We started early morning and almost ran through the straight trails. Since it was mostly downhill, the knees were punished. But the thick forest and huge trees were pleasant for eyes.

Everyone was more than helpful to everyone else and there was no envy, no pride involved. The concept of team building that I learned here. Finally, after continuously descending for half a day, I got a whiff of the basecamp from where we originally started the trek.

Even though there was still over an hour to the destination, just a sight of it was comforting enough to bring a sigh of relief. And in no time we were at the basecamp. I had never been happier at having achieved something in my uneventful life than I was at Lohajung that afternoon. My first Himalayan trek was a success. Later at 2:PM Our organizers arranged for a transport from Lohajung to Kausani.

Note:Brahmatal is one of India’s few high-altitude treks accessible in the winter months. I have to say with all my heart, that I had a brilliant experience with The GoAdven Team. As a traveler, I like to honestly review and recommend companies I’ve had a good time with. As a first time trekker, I had the best possible introduction to high altitude trekking with their team. Mr. Pradeep Kuniyal and all their other crew members ensured that we had a blast up in the mountains. Especially the cook Mr. Prakash dished out the most delicious simple meals, including kheer and mountain cuisines during camp.