Treks in Dharamkot: Triund, Indrahar Pass, Kareri Lake and short walks

This is one part of our Dharamkot guide. If you already know you're coming, the homes and rooms are on the Dharamkot homestays page.

TL;DR summary

• Triund: About 6 km, ridge at 2,850 m. From Gallu Devi temple (about 2,100 m). 2.5 to 4 hours up, 2 to 3 hours down.
• Registration and fee: Gallu check post, ₹100 a day. Registration is mandatory for every trekker since November 2025. The ₹100 fee and the ₹550 tent fee for two were last set in January 2024.
• Start time: Mid-morning at the latest. Day walkers who reach the post after about 11:30 am can be turned back. We'd be there by 8 am.
• Winter, December to March: Ask before you set out. District orders ban trekking above 3,000 m and make the police superintendent's permission compulsory for Triund and Kareri.
• Indrahar Pass: About 4,300 m, 4 to 5 days. A guide is strongly advised. Guides charge ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 a day.
• Kareri Lake: About 2,930 m, 2 to 3 days. The trek is 11.5 to 15 km one way from Kareri village, a 22 to 27 km road trip from McLeod Ganj.

Treks and walks from Dharamkot compared: distance, time, season, rules

Treks in Dharamkot all start on foot from the top of the village, where the Gallu Devi temple stands at about 2,100 m. The one nearly everyone means is Triund: about 6 km and 750 m of climbing to a ridge at 2,850 m. Since November 2025 you have to register at the check post by the temple, and in winter the police have to clear the route first. This guide puts Triund first, then the routes beyond it, then Kareri Lake and the short walks. If you stay by the week or the month, Triund becomes a morning you pick by the weather; see our homes and rooms in Dharamkot.

Triund trek from Dharamkot: distance, climb and time

• Start: Gallu Devi temple, about 2,100 m, at the top of the village
• Distance: about 6 km one way; about 9 km if you walk up from McLeod Ganj
• Climb: roughly 750 m to a ridge at about 2,850 m
• Time: 2.5 to 4 hours up and 2 to 3 down; from McLeod Ganj, 4 to 5 hours up
• Season: March to early June, and October to November
• Cost: ₹100 a person a day at the Gallu check post; a guide is optional

If you do one trek from Dharamkot, do this one, and start from the village rather than from town. Above the end of the road everything in Dharamkot is on foot, and the trail begins at the Gallu Devi temple at the top. From the main part of the village allow 30 to 60 minutes to walk up to it, which is why a bed in the upper lanes saves real time. The guide to where to stay in Dharamkot compares the parts of the village, and the how to reach Dharamkot guide covers the road up from McLeod Ganj.

The first stretch climbs steadily to a tea stop called Magic View Cafe, about 4 km up. The last stretch to the ridge is the steepest, a run of tight switchbacks known as the 22 curves. Chai and maggi stalls line the trail, and prices rise with height. There is no reliable natural water on the way, so fill your bottles at Gallu; bottled water at the stalls is ₹50 to ₹60. There is no ATM at the top and card and UPI are unreliable, so carry cash. Mobile signal drops in and out near the ridge. Black bears, leopards and monal live in the area, so walk in daylight.

A day walk is 4.5 to 7 hours of walking plus however long you sit on the ridge. We’d be at Gallu by 8 am. The post can turn back day walkers who arrive after about 11:30 am, and a slow climb followed by a 2 to 3 hour descent leaves little margin in the afternoon.

Triund trek permission: Gallu registration, fees, group limits

Since November 2025 every trekker must register at the check post at Gallu temple. The district magistrate ordered check posts on ten trekking routes under the Disaster Management Act, and Gallu is the one for Triund. Anyone found trekking without registering faces legal action. Forest guards are posted at the start, and in October 2026 the Kangra police superintendent said registration is being enforced there. Guides may take at most 10 trekkers a group.

The forest department’s entry fee is ₹100 a person a day, and a tent for two is ₹550 with entry included. Those are the rates it announced in January 2024, when it halved the ₹200 fee it had started a month earlier. Rates have moved before, and card and UPI are not reliable at the post, so carry small notes. The department also set limits in December 2023 of 400 trekkers a day, 20 tents and 40 people overnight.

Triund camping: tents, limits and what they cost

The campsite at Triund in September 2015. Photo: Alok Kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Tents go up on the ridge at designated spots. The ₹550 is the forest fee and does not include a tent. A tent and sleeping bag rented at the top run ₹400 to ₹800 a person, and a guided overnight package is ₹2,000 to ₹4,500 a person. With room for only 20 tents and 40 people overnight, summer weekends fill up.

Rules on tents have changed before, and the winter orders can stop the trail altogether. When you register at Gallu, ask whether camping is on that night. You don’t want to carry a sleeping bag 6 km up to be told no.

Triund in winter: police permission and the 3,000 m ban

Kangra’s district administration has issued the same winter order three times: in December 2022, in December 2024 and again on 6 January 2026. It bans trekking above 3,000 m. Since December 2024 it has also made the Kangra police superintendent’s permission compulsory for the Triund and Kareri routes, and any warning from the weather department’s Shimla office cancels permissions already given. No end date has been published, so treat it as standing through the winter.

Triund itself is under 3,000 m, so the height ban stops you at Snowline, not at the ridge. The permission rule is what applies to Triund. It is enforced: in December 2024 four guides were booked for leading a group towards Triund against the orders. From December to March, ask at the Gallu post or the police before you set out, and expect to be turned back on any day with a weather alert. The lower walks at the end of this guide are not covered by the order and make a fair swap on those days.

Triund in the monsoon: July and August on a slippery trail

The trail is slippery in July and August, and the forest department can turn people back in heavy rain. The monsoon reached Himachal on 30 June in 2026 and withdrew on 3 October; in 2025 it came on 20 June and left on 26 September. The weather department’s 1991 to 2020 averages for Dharamshala, a station far below the village, give July 859 mm and August 942 mm of rain. September is still wet, at 378 mm over about 14 rainy days. October drops to 53 mm and November to 19 mm, which is why we’d plan Triund for October or November, or for March to early June. The one road to the village has been in poor repair since about 2024, so in and after the monsoon ask your host whether taxis are getting through. The best time to visit Dharamkot has the month by month detail.

Triund safety: late starts, lost tracks, when to turn back

The two rescues on this trail were in winter. A British man died after a fall near Thathri in February 2025, while a temporary trekking ban was in force. At the end of December 2025 police rescued four trekkers from Delhi who had lost the way towards Triund. That is why the permission rule matters from December to March.

We’d keep to these rules. If you are not on the ridge four hours after leaving Gallu, turn around, because the way down takes 2 to 3 hours and you want it finished in daylight. Stay on the worn main track, and if you lose it, go back to the last place you were sure of rather than cutting across the slope. And if the post stops letting people through, take that as the answer for the day. Operators say a guide is not strictly needed on this trail; we’d hire one in winter or in low cloud.

Snowline Cafe and Laka Got: the climb beyond Triund

Snowline Cafe above Triund, photographed in 2010. Photo: Ashish Gupta, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The trail does not end at the ridge. Snowline Cafe is about 3 km above Triund, a climb of 1 to 2 hours, and Laka Got, also spelled Ilaqua Got, is an easy hour further. From Gallu that is about 9 km and 3.5 to 6 hours up, too long for a comfortable day walk, so most people sleep at Triund or at the Snowline cafe area, or camp in the pasture. May to June and September to October are the windows.

Both are above 3,000 m, so the winter ban covers them. In winter the rocks ice over, and that is when a guide earns the fee. Check the weather before you commit to a night up there.

Lahesh Cave trek: the rock shelter before Indrahar Pass

Lahesh Cave is a natural rock shelter above 3,000 m, 2 to 3 hours beyond Laka Got, and it is the usual night before the pass. It belongs to the Indrahar route rather than to a weekend trip.

Indrahar Pass trek from Dharamkot: 4 to 5 days to about 4,300 m

Looking up to Indrahar Pass in October 2015. Photo: Ashish Gupta, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Indrahar Pass is the big route from Dharamkot, for people who have done Triund and want more. It runs from Gallu Devi through Triund, Snowline and Laka Got to Lahesh Cave, then 2 to 6 hours to the pass at about 4,300 m. Plan 4 to 5 days. It is rated moderate to difficult, and the season is June, then September to October. It is above 3,000 m, so the winter ban applies and nobody should plan it between December and March.

A guide is strongly advised, and guides charge about ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 a day. On 6 June 2025 an Israeli man who had been staying in Dharamkot went missing near a glacier beside the Indrahar trail. He was found alive on 15 June, nine days later, dehydrated and hungry. The district tightened its trekking rules afterwards. Register at Gallu like any other trekker, carry food and water for the days above Triund, and tell someone at your guesthouse when you expect to be back.

Kareri Lake trek: a 2 to 3 day trek near Dharamshala

Kareri Lake in October 2025. Photo: Meerah Dhiman, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Kareri Lake sits at about 2,930 m and starts from Kareri village, which is a 22 to 27 km road trip from McLeod Ganj, so you need a taxi or an operator’s pick-up. Agree the fare before you get in. From the village the trek is 11.5 to 15 km one way, depending on the route, and takes 2 to 3 days. It is rated easy to moderate, and April to early June and October to November are the best months.

Kareri is named in the winter order, so the police superintendent’s permission is compulsory in winter and is cancelled on weather alerts. Register at the forest check point in Kareri village and carry cash for any fee. Guides charge ₹800 to ₹1,200 a day. There are no tea stalls on this route, unlike Triund. The temple at the lake offers free rooms, and the forest rest house must be booked ahead. Leopards come down to lower ground in winter, so we’d save Kareri for spring or autumn.

Short walks from Dharamkot: waterfalls, Naddi and Guna Devi

All four stay below 3,000 m, so the winter ban does not touch them. They are the walks to keep for the afternoons when Triund is closed to you or when you have work to finish.

Bhagsu waterfall and Shiva Cafe: the easy walk down

Shiva Cafe in October 2020. Photo: KUMAR2912, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

• Start: the village; Upper Bhagsu is 10 to 15 minutes down the other side, and the Bhagsu Nag temple is 30 to 45 minutes down
• Distance: the fall is about 1 km beyond the temple, 30 minutes on foot
• Cost: free
• Season: all year

This is the easiest walk from Dharamkot. Stairs with railings cover most of the way. Shiva Cafe is another 15 to 20 minutes above the fall on a rocky path that gets rough. It opens at 9:30 am, closes by evening, and costs ₹200 to ₹600 a person. It rents trekking sticks. The way back is uphill, so save energy.

The stretch from the temple to the fall cracked in the August 2024 rains, so after heavy rain ask at your guesthouse whether it is passable. In July and August stay out of the water.

Gallu waterfall walk: 2 to 3 hours from the temple or Heini

• Start: Gallu Devi temple or Heini
• Distance: about 2 km from Dharamkot
• Time: 2 to 3 hours
• Season: March to early June, October to November

After the climb to the saddle behind Heini the path is mostly level, with a few cafes and a small waterfall with swimming holes. There are smooth and slippery patches, so trekking poles help. In the monsoon, keep out of the water.

Naddi viewpoint walk: sunset on a flat path

Naddi in March 2022. Photo: Anitya dhiman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

• Start: Dharamkot or Heini
• Distance: Naddi is about 3 km from McLeod Ganj
• Time: 2 to 3 hours
• Season: all year

This is the easiest of the longer walks because the path stays at about the same height as the village. Naddi has a viewpoint with telescopes, and sunset is the reason to go. Start early enough to be back before dark.

Guna Devi temple walk: a half day to a hill shrine

• Start: Gallu Devi temple, or Dal Lake via Naddi village
• Distance: about 7 km each way from Gallu
• Time: 2 to 3 hours each way, about 6 hours in all
• High point: about 2,290 m
• Season: March to early June, October to November

The Gaddi community reveres this shrine to a form of Kali. The path is easy but long, so take water and leave early.

Which trek from Dharamkot fits an evening, a weekend or a week

For an evening after work, the Bhagsu waterfall or Naddi at sunset. Both are free and open all year. The things to do in Dharamkot guide has walks in the village and in McLeod Ganj.

For a Saturday, Triund as a day walk, on a clear October or November morning, at Gallu by 8 am. In winter, ask first.

For a long weekend, Triund with a night on the ridge, or Kareri Lake over 2 or 3 days in spring or autumn. Ask about tents when you register.

For a week, Indrahar Pass in June or from late September, with a guide and the Gallu registration done in advance.

If you have one slot, we’d take Triund on an October or November morning, and start from the village.

Frequently asked questions about treks in Dharamkot