Day 1: Drive from Dehradun to Dhaula (12 hrs drive)

Get off at Dehradun and drive along Mussorie, Purola, Mori and Naitwar to reach Himri. The drive takes a full 12 hours on winding mountain roads. Watch out for the pine forests after Purola and the journey by the Tons river after Mori. This is one of the best mountain drives of our country.

Himri is the basecamp for the Bharadsar taal trek. Himri is 3-4 kms before Dhaula – the base camp of the Rupin Pass trek. Needless to mention, Himri is also on the banks of the Rupin and your campsite is nestled amidst the pine and other coniferous trees. Himri gets its name after the Himrit rees found abundantly here. Himri is at an altitude of 4820ft.

Day 2 : Trek from Himri to Saaru tal via Bitri village

Altitude : 4820 ft to 7500 ft
Distance : 8 kms
Time : 5 hours
Bharadsar Lake Trek trail

The destination for the day is a tiny village called as Bitri. Bitri lies up on the mountain ridge and Himri at its base. It is a steep climb of 2700ft to Bitri. The climb starts amidst the pine forest and is steep right from the start. An hour into the climb and 1800ft higher is your first break point Kujraili.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Kujraili clearing

The trail in the forest forks several times at several places. Keep asking the passing villagers for the route, to avoid taking the wrong trail or getting lost. The days trail has almost no water sources. Ensure you leave Himri with 2 litres of water at least. A steady 4 hour uphill climb brings you to Bitri village. The Bitri village houses a little more than 100 families.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bitri village

Enthusiastic young kids come running to see who the visitors to their village are. A quick walk through beautiful wooden houses brings you to the center of the village. A school and a temple make the village center. It is an open school with a blackboard in the courtyard.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bitri village school

The village temple is a major attraction of Bitri . It is carved in wood with shields heralding its doors.There is a beautiful pagoda-like structure besides the temple. It serves as its storehouse. The temple is built in a typical Kinnaur architecture. Though you are still in Uttarkhand, the influence of Kinnauris strong. Lady trekkers may be disappointed as women are not allowed inside the temple. Biren Nag and Mahasu are the 2 idols worshipped here.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bitri village temple

Make the shade of the Moruban tree a few meters ahead your lunch point. Your campsite for the day is an hours walk ahead. A large meadow with a lake right in the center – Saaru Taal is your camp for the day. The lake is devoid of water for most months of the year and your nearest water source is a stream almost a kilometer away. Another interesting sight that can catch your attention are the dogs. All the dogs of the village have metal strips with spikes as a protection from leopards.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Saaru taal campsite

Day 3 : Trek from Saaru Taal to Badang

Altitude : 7700 ft to 9700 ft
Distance : 7.2 kms
Time : 4 hours

Wake up to a beautiful morning at Saru Taal and get ready for another stiff climb to Badaang. Badang is along the slope of the same mountain but a little higher. It is going to be a moderate trek with a height gain of over 2200ft over a distance of 7km. An hour’s rocky and steep climb brings you to a small stream which marks your entry into the deodar /pine forest. The trail eases out beyond the pine forest.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Badang meadow

A stone laden trail gets you through the forest before the last two kms to Badang which again becomes a bit of a climb. Spot the Himalayan langurs and the many varieties of birds in the forest. Badaang campsite located on a beautiful meadow surrounded by a beautiful deodar forest. The camp site has a stream flowing right next to it.

Day 4 : Badang to Dhal Dhar

Altitude : 9700 ft to 11,280 ft
Time : 5-6 hours

Strenuous and long would be the two words to explain the trek from Badang to your 3rd campsite Dhal Dhar. Start the days trek through the Oak forest just outside your campsite. 3 hours of trekking through the forest with a couple of stiff climbs, brings you closer to the ridge with the forest beginning to thin.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Vijay top

The forest opens into the meadows and you are about 1000ft higher than Badang. This is Vijay top and a kilometer ahead is Masundha Dhar. From Masundha Dhar the trail goes as a ridge walk from one mountain ridge to another. 20 mins into the meadows,the views open up beautifully. The massive peaks of Swargarohini, Bandarpoonch and Ralgan appear right in front.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Swargarohini view

On either side of your trail are Rhododendron shrubs growing in abundance. The ridge walk carries on and on for 4 more hours. The sky in front has a 180 degree panaroma of mountains set up for you. The trail continuously climbs from one ridge to another with a few small intermittent descents.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Ridge to Dhal Dhar

The village Liwadi is also in sight. The Dhal Dhar campsite is perched in a narrow valley. The hill opposite the camp site is covered with white Rhododendron bushes . There is a absolutely no water on the entire trail. With more than 5 hours of trek being on ridge top with no tree cover, its easy to feel dehydrated and tired. Carry 2 litres of water from Badang and sip it wisely along the way.

Day 4 : Trek from Dhal Dhar to Dev Bhasa

Altitude : 11,300 ft to 11, 900 ft
Time : 2 hours

The trek to Dev Bhasa is a very short one lasting about 2 hours. An initial climb of 500ft in half a kilometer followed by a gentle descent brings you to the campsite.

Bharadsar Lake Trek climb

The campsite is situated on a very small plain adjoining 2 mountains. The area is rocky and you are in for a bumpy night. The water source is about 2 kms away from the Dev bhasa campsite. The camp is surrounded by rocky mountains on 3 sides and is quite windy.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Dev Bhasa camp

Gangotri range can be seen from Dev Bhasa ( alt 11800-11900 ft.) The trail to your destination can be seen from Dev Bhasa. This day is short and would even out if extended by a couple of km or even 3kms. This would make the final trek to Bhardsaar lake less tedious. However, the climb ahead is strenuous and steep. Camping anywhere else before the Bharadsar meadow camp becomes impractical.

Day 5 : Trek from Dev Bhasa to Bharadsar meadow

Altitude : 11,900 ft to 13,120 ft

The trek from Dev Bhasa to Bharadsar camp is undoubtedly the longest and the toughest trek amongst the 6 days. There are 2 routes to Bharadsar camp. The longer one which goes left, round about the mountain and then comes right. The shorter one is a steep ascent crossing a pass and getting down straight to the Bharadsar campsite. The terrain from here becomes bouldery. You may get patches of snow too.

Bharadsar Lake Trek en route to Bharadsar ridge

On the longer route, a 4.5 hour climb brings you to the cross over point or the ridge. The Bharadsar camp is 3 hours away from the pass. The path on the other side of the ridge was made of layers of rocks with snow here and there and also gaps in between hence making a risky trail.

Bharadsar Lake Trek trail
Bharadsar lake can be seen from a point well above the Bharadsar campsite. The lake looks partly frozen and dark in color mainly due to the shadow of the rocky mountains surrounding it. A 4 hour trek over a rugged trail takes you to the Bharadsar lake from the camp.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bharadsar ridge

The terrain on the other side of the ridge is extremely rugged and could be even called hostile and the weather is chilly to the bone. The Bharadsar meadow campsite has neither water nor firewood. The only source of water is by melting snow. Ensure that you carry sufficient fuel for both cooking and melting snow.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bharadsar meadow camp

Day 6 : Trek from Bharadsar meadow to Bharadsar lake back to Dev Bhasa

Altitude : 13120 ft to 11,900 ft

The Bharadsar lake is not visible from the Bharadsar meadow campsite. You get a distant view of the lake from the ridge you came from.

Bharadsar Lake Trek view

The lake is a couple of hours away from the Bharadsar meadow camp. It’s a trek over rocks and moraines which requires you to step carefully.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bharadsar lake

From the Bharadsar lake, retrace your steps till the campsite. From the camp, take the straight path to the ridge top. If there is snow, it will be an easy climb up to the ridge which takes an hour.

Bharadsar Lake Trek Bharadsar lake

The descent on the Dev Bhasa side is steep and slippery. The direct ridge route is much shorter than the round about route. Take the direct route to the ridge even on the way up. A 3 hour trek from Bharadsar camp, brings you back to Dev Bhasa.

Day 7 : Dev Bhasa to Upper Rehala

Altitude : 11,900 ft to 8,840 ft
It’s a steep descent to Upper Rehala from Dev Bhasa. Retrace your path to Dhal Dhar which takes a little more than an hour. From Dhal Dhar, take the trail going to the left of the main trail you came from. The initial trail over loose stones and rocks tend to take a toll on everyone’s knees. An hour into the descent, you get your first stream to fill water and another follows after one more hour.

After the initial 2 hours, the trail enters the meadows again and then goes though a beautiful pine forest. The altitude reads 10,800ft. The forest ends and the trail winds through terraced farms growing Rajma and wheat. Pitch your tents in the small patches of green amidst these terrace farms.

The altitude is considerably less at 8,840 ft though it is quite higher than your basecamp at Himri. There are herds of sheep constantly moving above and below your tents grazing while the dogs keep barking the entire night to ward against any danger to the sheep. The camp at Upper Rehala marks your entry into civilization.

Day 8 : Upper Rehala to Sankri via Jhakhol

The day starts with an easy down hill walk. There are streams flowing all along. An hour later comes the village Rehala and then Karla. Another village Bitari follows within an hour. The descent from here is steep. Go down all the way to the Supin river where the Obra river joins it. A small tea shop lies here. From here its a couple of hours uphill walk to Jakhol. Have a vehicle waiting for you at Jakhol and drive to Sankri which is 16 kms away. Plan to stay the night at GMVN in Sankri.

In season, Sankri is bustling with trekking activity- being the base for Kedarkantha, Har ki Dun, Bali Pass and Borasu Pass.

Bharadsar Lake Trek sankri
Day 9 : Drive from Sankri to Dehradun

Basics Gears

• Backpack & Rain Cover (40-60 Litres)
• Trekking Shoes
• Trekking Pole
• LED Torch
• One Water Bottle (one litre)
• Basic Medications (or prescribed if any)

Clothes

• Trekking Jacket
• Three (Five in winter) Warm Layers
• Two trek pants (one Wear and one carry)
• Two collared t-shirts
• Thermals

Accessories

• Sunglasses
• Sunscreeen Lotion (SPF 50/70)
• Lip Balm (SPF 30)
• Sun cap
• Synthetic hand gloves
• Two pair of Socks
• Raincoat/Ponchos

Others

• Daypack (20 litres), if you opt to offload your backpack
• Toiletries
• Cutlery
• Plastic cover (for wet clothes)

Mandatory Documents

Original and photocopy of government photo identity card- (Passport, Aadhaar Card, Driving license or voters ID, Medical Certificate)

If cancellations are made 30 days before the start date of the trip, 25% of total tour cost will be charged as cancellation fees.

If cancellations are made 15-30 days before the start date of the trip, 50% of total tour cost will be charged as cancellation fees.

If cancellations are made within 0-15 days before the start date of the trip, 100% of total tour cost will be charged as cancellation fees.

In case of unforeseen weather conditions or government restrictions, certain trips or activities may get cancelled. In such cases operator will try their best to provide an alternate feasible. However a cash refund will not be applicable for the same.

Cancellations are strictly subjected to cancellation policies mentioned on the website & are irrespective of the date of booking.