Shimla town is one of 3 trekking hubs in Himachal Pradesh, the other two being Manali and Dharamsala / MacLeod Ganj. In itself, Shimla (2100 m, 7000 ft) doesn’t have much trekking spirit, but I have enjoyed eating good food, cake and coffee on the Mall in Shimla! Trekkers need to stuff themselves when they can, you know!
You can do a number of good treks out of Shimla, both short 1-2 days treks and other week long treks to the interior of the Himalayas. The good news is, you can do much of this as a spectacular road trip! (bus, jeep, motorcycle, bicycle!). For once, in the Indian Himalayas, there are accomodation / hotels along the route and you are able to travel independently without a guide, getting up around 4000 meters / 13,000 ft. If that’s not enough, you can pick up your camping gear and put on your hiking boots and then trek into the high altitude landscape from the roadside villages, getting up over 5000 meters / 15,000 ft!
The bad news? Well, the road isn’t exactly like a US Highway. At places, it’s nothing more than a gravel wheel track being constantly washed away by rock and landslides! Considering the altitude though, it’s pretty impressive that there is a road here in the first place!
MAP TREKKING POINTS: (1) Shimla, (2) Narkanda, (3) Jalori & Bashleo Passes, (4) Sarahan, (5) Sangla Village in Sangla Valley, (6) Chitkul, (7) Reckong Peo / Kalpa, (8) Kaza, (9) Kunzum Pass. To zoom in on map details and pan around, click HERE.
The following treks out of Shimla can basically be divided into 3 categories : Day trips from Shimla (1-3), Sangla Valley treks (5-6) and Spiti Valley treks (7-9). All places can be reached by road and short/long treks can be done from there.
1. Short treks out of Shimla (1-2 days). The Shali Tibba (2900 m, 9500 ft) is the highest peak close to Shimla. There is a fantastic view from the top and you can do the whole trek in one day. 13 km out of Shimla is Chharabra (3000 m, 10,000 ft) and Mashobra Bazaar from where you can walk around and make your way back to Shimla, also in a day.
2. Narkanda (2700 m, 9000 ft), located some 60 km from Shimla, is the base of an amazingly beautiful day trip to Hattu Peak (3400 m, 11,000 ft). Expect a bit of snow here during winter.
3. Narkanda is also the base of treks over the Jalori Pass and the Bashleo Pass heading into the Kullu Valley (where Manali is). Both passes are about 3500 meters / 11,500 ft. There is a jeepable road over much of the Jalori Pass and a number of small lodges / tea-houses over the Bashleo Pass, allowing you to trek without camping gear. 5 km east of JP is the Saryosar Lake, also worth a look! The two passes can be combined into a little circuit trek.
4. Sarahan (2300m, 7500 ft) is a picturesque 800+ year old village located in the Sutlej Valley. Worth a stop-over on your way to either Sangla Valley or the Kinnaur-Lahaul-Spiti Valley. There is an old Bhimakali temple that was once the site of human sacrifice and the surrounding hills are great for easy day treks.
5. Sangla Village (in Sangla Valley). The valley goes up along the Baspa River, the village is in about 2600 meters / 8600 ft. From here there are many high altitude treks that goes into the mountains south of the valley, some of the most famous being the Rupin Pass (4500 m, 15,000 ft), the Buran Pass (4700 m, 15,500 ft) and the Nalgan Pass (5000 m, 16,500 ft). This is where it is time to get your camping gear out and do some very exciting trekking!
6. Chitkul (3300 m, 10,800 ft) further up the Sangla Valley is another nice village still connected by road. It’s nice in itself but again, if you don’t mind a bit of “real” trekking and camping, there are some amazing places to go from around Chitkul. Follow the river up to its source and see / cross the Lamkhaga Pass (5300 m, 17,400 ft), then trek down to Harsil and round to Jamnotri.
7. Reckong Peo / Kalpa (2800 m, 9000 ft) is where you need to stop and get your inner line permit from the tourist office. You are now in the Kinnaur region and it is also the base of the amazing Kinnaur-Kailash Circuit/Parikrama Trek that crosses over the 5250 meter / 17,200 ft Charang La and down to Chitkul (#6 on this list). The Kinnaur-Kailash trek takes about 5 days this way. August-Septemer are the best months to do the trek.
8. Kaza (3600 m, 12,000 ft) in the Lahaul-Spiti region is where most people tend to stop and stay for the night before proceeding to Ki Gompa, Kibber Village and perhaps beyond… The area, landscape, scenery here… just mind-blowing!
9. Kunzum La (4250 m). Amazingly, state run busses also cross this pass. But it is the highest point on the route so it is the first place to close down in the fall and the last to open up in the spring. Consider bringing gear for snow-trekking to avoid backtracking a couple of days in a bus. It happened to me once. Pass closed. Turn the jeep around or cross the snowy pass? I opted for the first one since I hadn’t brought any snow gear. But I remember a couple of guys just setting out on foot… That would have been interesting!
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| These were some of the best treks out of Shimla. There’s plenty of other trekking options in the area around Shimla and if you are interested in doing any of these treks, I’ll recommend getting one (or both) of the following books. They have plenty of detailed maps and more route suggestions. Feel free to add to the suggestions about trekking out of Shimla by commenting below. Thanks and Happy Trekking! Related posts: |  "The Bible" when itcomes to exploring the Kinnaur & Spiti region. For those of us who are inflicted with the travel bug. |
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