Gulabi Kantha Trek

Gulabi Kantha is a five-day trek out of Dehradun and back: a day on the road to Hanuman Chatti, two walking days up through forest and meadow, a summit day that starts in the dark, and a last day that walks down and drives home. From Hanuman Chatti (2,100 m) the trail climbs 5 km to Kandola Chhani (2,700 m) and then 6 km to the high camp at Seema Thatch (3,474 m). Summit day goes up to the crest of Gulabi Kantha at 4,023 m (13,200 ft), about 550 m above that camp, and comes back down to Kandola Chhani the same day. The plan's distances add up to about 28 km on foot; measured along the mapped trail it is 19.7 km, and first-hand accounts count 21 and 26 km. Wikipedia lists Gulabi Kantha among the bugyals of Uttarakhand, the high-altitude meadows. The top is a broad, open, grassy crest, not a sharp peak. On our terrain model it is the highest point of an east-west crest about 2.1 km east-south-east of the Seema Thatch camp in a straight line, and a first-hand January 2026 report crosses several false tops before the real one. That party began the climb at about 4:30 am up a steep stretch where the trail was hard to spot in the dark, reached the top at about 6:30 am in cloud and wind, and was caught by light snow. A mid-April 2022 report describes the last stretch as a steep incline over thick snow that needs proper shoes and preferably a stick. Read the published numbers with care. Pages put the top anywhere from 3,600 m to 4,023 m. The figures of 3,785 to 3,810 m match a mapped ridge trail about 210 m below the crest, not the top; 12,000 ft (3,658 m) is an outlier that no measurement supports; and several pages round the real top to 4,000 m. We use 4,023 m (13,200 ft), the figure on several pages and in a first-hand January 2026 post, and in line with the 4,027 to 4,033 m that three elevation models read at the highest cell of the crest. Walking distances run from 21 km to 28 km on pages and 19.7 km on our map, and summit-day figures from 3 km up on one page to 15 km for the whole day on another; we use the plan's day-by-day figures, which add up to 28 km, and name the spread. Hanuman Chatti is at about 2,100 m by every elevation model we ran; two pages print 2,400 m, which is the height of Nishni, a hamlet about 1 km further up the trail. The season matters more here than on most treks, because the bookable dates run through winter. Pages sell the trek year round, and several say winter is the time to do it, for snow on the meadows; one lists December to April for the snow and September to November for clear views. A mid-April 2022 first-hand report found snow on the top and says it lasts until mid-May or June. February is deep winter: one page says that in December, January and even February the snow can reach 1 to 2 ft, knee deep; one puts night temperatures as low as -10 to -15 °C and another puts winter days at -8 to -2 °C. Snow varies from year to year: the first week of January 2026 had very little, which a first-hand report called rare, and fresh snowfall was reported on 27 January 2026. One operator's own updates describe batches on the trail in February 2026, one going up to the summit and another coming down. We found no first-hand report from February itself. In winter the huts at Kandola Chhani are empty, because the villagers who farm there in summer go down to the valley. The trek starts at Hanuman Chatti, a village in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, at the point where the Hanuman Ganga joins the Yamuna and where the motor road ends below Yamunotri: Wikipedia puts it 14 km from Yamunotri, a first-hand account says 10 km, and our road routing gives 9.4 km. Do not confuse it with a hamlet mapped as Hanumanchatti in Joshimath tehsil, Chamoli district; that is a different place. Whether the route lies in a protected area we could not confirm. Wikipedia says the Bandarpunch massif lies within the Govind Pashu Vihar sanctuary and national park, but the sanctuary's outline on OpenStreetMap is at least 23 km from the points we measured along the route, a forest sign near the trailhead photographed in 2017 names the Yamunotri Range of the Upper Yamuna Forest Division at Barkot, and a forest officer on patrol asked a party for its permits at Kandola Chhani in January 2026. Mind the altitude. On the plan you sleep at 2,100 m, then 2,700 m, then 3,474 m, with no rest day before the summit: night two is 600 m higher than night one and night three is 774 m higher than night two. The NHS advises that, once you are at 3,000 m or more, you avoid sleeping more than 500 m higher than the night before and take a rest day every 3 to 4 days; Wikipedia gives 300 m a day as the rate that prevents altitude sickness. The third night is outside that advice, so tell your guide early about any headache or poor sleep, and stay at Seema Thatch rather than push on if you feel worse.

• Oak and rhododendron forest above Hanuman Chatti (2,100 m, about 6,900 ft), with yew among them by a 2022 report, on the first walking day. The trail passes the hamlet of Nishni on the way; we promise no bloom.
• Kandola Chhani (2,700 m, about 8,900 ft), the first camp, 5 km on foot from the road: seasonal huts and fields that are empty in winter, when the villagers who farm there have gone down to the valley.
• Seema Thatch (3,474 m, about 11,400 ft), the high camp, on a meadow 6 km further up. From the camp the crest to its east hides most of the skyline; on our terrain model only Bandarpunch I and II are clear, so the wide panorama is from the top, not the camp.
• The crest of Gulabi Kantha (4,023 m, 13,200 ft): a broad, open, grassy top with a long skyline. Several pages name Swargarohini, Bandarpunch, Jaonli and the Gangotri group from it, and our line-of-sight run on a terrain model draws all four as visible; one page also names Srikantha.
• Bandarpunch, the nearest of the big mountains from the top: the White Peak at about 14 km and Bandarpunch I at about 15 km. The massif has three summits: Bandarpunch I (6,316 m), Bandarpunch II or the White Peak (6,102 m), and Kalanag, the Black Peak (6,387 m). They are three different mountains. Several pages name the Black Peak from the top, but on our terrain model it stands directly behind Bandarpunch I and is hidden from the crest, so we promise Bandarpunch I and the White Peak, not the Black Peak.
• Swargarohini and Jaonli (6,632 m) on the horizon, and the Gangotri group beyond. Pages also name Nanda Devi, Chaukhamba and a Kalindi range from the top; those names come from single pages and are not on our terrain model's list of visible mountains, so we do not promise them.
• The Hanuman Ganga beside the lower trail, and the trailhead itself: a railed path, a green steel footbridge and a forest-department board near an old power-house sign. The photographs on this page were taken in September and November, not in the winter snow window, so expect far more snow on the days than they show.

Prepare for the cold and the altitude more than for the distance. The walking days are short on paper, 5 km, 6 km, about 12 km on summit day and 5 km down, and pages call the trek easy to moderate and a beginner's trail with no technical skills. But the top is 4,023 m, you sleep 774 m higher on night three than on night two, summit day starts in the dark, and in winter the trail carries snow and the nights fall well below zero. Train for stairs and hills with a pack, and for several days in a row on your feet. Take the altitude seriously. If you have never slept above 3,000 m, tell your guide, drink and eat regularly, and accept that stopping at Seema Thatch is a sound decision. Altitude sickness usually begins above about 2,500 m, and this plan sleeps at 2,700 m on night two. Get the layers right. A first-hand January 2026 party wore a great many layers to beat the cold on the pre-dawn climb, and a 2022 report says the last stretch needs proper boots and preferably a stick. Practise walking in the boots, gaiters and gloves you will wear before you go. Ask your operator, in writing, four things: which month the departure is and what the snow was doing on the last one, what the summit-day turnaround time is, which permits are included and who obtains them, and what the rescue and evacuation arrangements are. Tell someone who is not on the trek where you are going and when you expect to be back.

• The summit is a decision made on the day. A January 2026 party left in the dark, found the trail hard to spot, reached the top at about 6:30 am in cloud and wind, and was caught by light snow. Whether a party goes up depends on the day's weather and snow; ask your operator what the turnaround rule is.
• The season is wide on paper and narrow in practice. Pages say year round, winter, or September to November for views; first-hand accounts include a mid-April 2022 trip with snow on the top and a January 2026 trip with very little snow. February is deep winter: expect snow, ice and sub-zero nights, in a depth that varies from year to year.
• Published numbers disagree. Top: 3,600 m to 4,023 m on pages (we publish 4,023 m). Total walking: 21 to 28 km on pages and 19.7 km on the mapped trail (we publish the plan's 28 km). Summit day: 3 km up on one page, 11 km for the whole day in a first-hand report, 15 km on another page, and 12 km on the plan.
• The plan sleeps 600 m higher on night two and 774 m higher on night three, with no rest day. That is more than the NHS advises once you are above 3,000 m (no more than 500 m a night), so tell your guide early about any headache or poor sleep.
• Forest permits are part of the arrangements. Pages that sell the trek say permits and camping charges are included for Indian nationals and that foreign nationals pay extra (one 2026 page prints INR 1,600 more). We found no official permit or fee list for this trek, so we publish no fee.
• A January 2026 report says Uttarakhand was drafting trekking rules, with registration for operators and qualifications for guides, that needed government approval. We did not verify whether they are in force. Ask your operator which rules apply.
• We could not confirm whether the route is inside the Govind Pashu Vihar sanctuary and national park. Wikipedia places the Bandarpunch massif inside it; the sanctuary's outline on OpenStreetMap is at least 23 km from the points we measured. Ask your operator.
• A guide is how this trail is done. The trail is hard to spot in the dark on the way to the top, and in winter snow hides it. Do not plan to go without one.
• Medical help is far. The nearest government facility is a health centre at Barkot, about 36 km by road; the district hospital is at Uttarkashi, about 115 km by road. Phone coverage is limited at Barkot and Hanuman Chatti and intermittent to none on the trail.
• The road to Hanuman Chatti is the Yamunotri highway, which landslides have cut in the monsoon (reports from June 2025, August 2025 and July 2026). Road widening was under way in January 2026 and made the Dehradun drive slow and dusty. Leave a margin before any onward train or flight.
• The photographs on this page were taken outside the winter window. Do not expect them to show what you will see.

The plan starts and ends at Dehradun. Operators pick up from the railway station or the ISBT bus stand early in the morning. Day one is a road day from Dehradun to Hanuman Chatti, 180 km in 6 to 7 hours on the plan; routing engines give 156 to 158 km by the shortest road, and pages print 125 to 200 km and 5 to 9 hours, so allow for the longer end. A January 2026 party left Dehradun at about 6:45 am and reached Hanuman Chatti at about 2:30 pm in dust and road-works traffic. Barkot is the last large town, about 36 km before Hanuman Chatti. Buses and shared vehicles run from Dehradun to Barkot and on to Hanuman Chatti; a 2022 report says taxis ply to Hanuman Chatti only at certain times. Hanuman Chatti is a village in Uttarkashi district, mapped at about 30.93 N, 78.40 E. The way home reverses it: day five walks 5 km down from Kandola Chhani to Hanuman Chatti in 3 to 4 hours and drives the 180 km back to Dehradun, ending in the evening. The Yamunotri highway has been cut by landslides in the monsoon, so leave a margin before any onward flight or train.

• Waterproof, ankle-high trekking boots that you have already broken in, and gaiters in winter. A 2022 report says the last stretch needs proper boots. Pack light slippers for camp.
• A trekking pole or stick; the same report advises one for the snow on the final stretch.
• Warm layers you can add and remove: two trek trousers, three quick-dry T-shirts, thermals top and bottom, a fleece, a padded insulated jacket, a waterproof shell, warm waterproof gloves with a spare pair, a woollen cap and a sun cap, and three or four pairs of socks with one of them woollen. A first-hand January 2026 party wore many layers to beat the cold on the pre-dawn climb.
• A headtorch with spare batteries. You start summit day in the dark.
• Sunglasses, sunscreen of SPF 40 or higher and lip balm for snow glare and thin air.
• Water bottles or flasks that hold two litres in all, and snacks for the long summit day.
• A personal first-aid kit, your own medicines and basic toiletries, and a note of anything you are allergic to.
• A 40 to 50 litre rucksack with a rain cover, and a raincoat or poncho.
• Original ID, and copies of your permit paperwork.
• A power bank, and a downloaded offline map.
• A bag for your rubbish. There are no bins above the road.