Kashmir is indeed a trekkers’ paradise. It offers the best of both winter and summer treks with gorgeous landscapes and charm. The treks here vary from easy to moderate to difficult. From weekend treks to weeklong treks, you can do lot of treks here. You will find some of the best day treks here as well.
In this blog, we have picked up some of the best treks in Kashmir. You can choose these treks and feel the delight of trekking in Kashmir.
Kashmir Great Lakes Trek
This is hands down the best summer trek in India. Situated in the Sonamrag area of Kashmir, this trek offers the best highlights of the Kashmir Himalayas. What sets this trek apart from others is the abundance of alpine lakes. You will see around 10 different gorgeous alpine lakes on this trek along with lush meadows and mountain passes. Some of the alpine lakes on this trek are Vishansar and Kishansar lakes, Gangabal lakes, Gadsar lakes, Satsar lakes, etc. The trek is around 65km in distance and takes around 7 days to finish with one day for acclimatization.
The gradient of the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek is moderate to difficult. The difficulty of the trek is because of three high-altitude passes which are part of this trek. The highest altitude on this trek is at Gadsar Pass which is 4200m in height.
The best time to do this trek is from June to October. It is a pure summer trek and gets shut during winter and post-October until May.
TarsarMarsar Trek
This trek starts from the Aru region of Kashmir. This trek is famous for its twin alpine lakes called Tarsar and Marsar. The lakes are situated just parallel to each other and divided by a mountain ridge. The gradient of this trek is easy to moderate and it is always recommended for beginners. There is another lake that you will see on this trek and that lake is called Sundersar lake. Another lake called Zedsar lake is also on the way to Tarsar Lake which can see.
TarsarMarsar Trek is a summer trek and has the best of meadows, river streams and jungle walks. One can finish the trek in 6 days and it has a total distance of around 48km. The highest altitude one reaches on this trek is 4000m.
This trek however is not a circuit trek. It starts and finishes in Aru valley.
Gurez Valley Trek
Gurez valley trek is a newly explored trek that falls in the most offbeat location of Kashmir called Gurez. The trek takes around 6 days to finish and is recommended for beginners. The gradient of the trek is easy to moderate.
This trek starts from Dawar of Gurez valley and goes to the Dawar heights from where you can see the border and Pakistan side. The trek will take you over the panoramic views and two stunningly beautiful alpine lakes called Patalwansar 1 and 2. The total distance of the trek is around 50km.
Gangabal Lake Trek
This trek is one of the oldest treks in Kashmir. The trek has the largest alpine lake in Kashmir called Gangabal Lake. The lake is grand and it has its sister lake called Nundkol Lake. Another attraction of this trek is the lush meadows of Trunkhol and the jungle walk of Butshree mountain. Along with the sister lakes, there are other 3 alpine lakes that one can see while on this trek.
The trek starts and ends at Naranag village – a remote village in Kashmir. The highest altitude of this trek is around 3600m. On this trek, you will see the most famous peak of Kashmir called Harmukh peak. It is the glacier of this peak that makes Gangabal lake and Nundkol lake. Both these lakes are full of famous tout fish. This trek is also famous for trout fish angling in Kashmir. The water of these lakes drains to form the Wangath river and than the Sindh river.
The best time to do this trek is in the summer. In winter the trek receives a lot of snow because of this the trek gets shut and is not recommended to take.