Travel style · Kumaon
Treks and walks in Kumaon
From an afternoon ridge walk to two weeks on foot
Day walks between villages, teahouse treks in Nepal, camping treks to high lakes and passes. We grade every walk by hours, height gain and the highest point, and pair you with licensed local guides and porters where the rules or the terrain call for them.
Photo: SudiptoDutta · CC BY-SA 3.0 · CommonsTrekking in the Himalaya is mostly walking on old paths between villages, which means you can choose your comfort: teahouses in Nepal, homestays in Ladakh and Sikkim, tents where nobody lives.
Kumaon is the eastern half of Uttarakhand: lake towns near Kathgodam, the old Chand capital of Almora, oak sanctuaries like Binsar, the stone temples of Jageshwar and the Johar valley at Munsiyari. Go March to June or September to November. Five to nine nights by train, shared jeep or private car covers the best of it.
Trips
Treks and walks trips in Kumaon
Photo: Krishan09 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Kumaon birding: Sattal and Binsar
Private car with driver
Photo: ParthaPratimNath · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Hostel trail: Mukteshwar and Kasar Devi
Shared taxis and jeeps
Photo: Travelling Slacker · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Munsiyari and the Johar valley by shared jeep
Shared jeeps and buses via Almora, Chaukori, Thal and Bageshwar
Photo: Travelling Slacker · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Signature
Kasar Devi and Binsar, slow and private
Private car with driver
Photo: Skalvanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Kumaon in depth: lakes, orchards and oak
Private car with driver
4 places
Where to go
Photo: SudiptoDutta · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Binsar
An oak sanctuary on the Chand kings' summer hill
Photo: Harsh7284 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Jageshwar
Over a hundred stone temples in a deodar valley
Photo: Ashish Gupta from Noida, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Munsiyari
Panchachuli up close and the winter home of the Johar traders
Photo: Original: Harshit SR Derivative work: Unpetitp… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ranikhet
A tidy army cantonment, orchards and pine walks on the queen's meadow
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: SudiptoDutta · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Sunrise walk to Zero Point
Walk 2 km through dark oak forest to the watchtower at Zero Point, about 2,400 m, and watch the sun light the snow peak…
Photo: solarshakti · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Birding in Binsar's oak forest
Binsar's old oak forest is one of the best places in Kumaon to see Himalayan forest birds and pheasants. A slow dawn wa…
Photo: Rajborah123 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Village trails on the edge of Binsar
Walk from the sanctuary edge down old paths to the terraced villages below, past naulas, stone houses with slate roofs …
Photo: Amritamitraghosh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Dawn walk through the Jageshwar temples
Walk among about 125 stone temples in the main Jageshwar compound at opening time, as priests begin the day's puja and …
Photo: Mayankthapliyal1988 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
The ASI museum and Dandeshwar temples
See the carved stone figures that the Archaeological Survey of India has moved from the temples into its site museum, t…
Photo: Naman 237 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Hike to Vriddh Jageshwar on the ridge
Climb through oak and pine from the Jageshwar valley to Vriddh Jageshwar, the old Jageshwar shrine on the ridge above, …
Photo: Alphahansraj · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Day hike to Khaliya Top
Climb from Balati Bend through oak and rhododendron forest to the alpine meadows of Khaliya Top at about 3,500 m, for o…
Photo: Kasyap · CC0 · Commons
Johar's story at the Tribal Heritage Museum
This small private museum in Munsiyari gathers the objects and records of the Johari Shauka traders: salt and wool bags…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: SudiptoDutta · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Budget
KMVN Tourist Rest House, Binsar
The government rest house inside Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, run by Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, sits high on the rid…
Photo: Original: Harshit SR Derivative work: Unpetitp… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
West View, Ranikhet
A heritage hotel built in 1918 on a forested plateau above Ranikhet, with timber-framed architecture, high-ceiling…
Photo: SudiptoDutta · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Luxury
Mary Budden Estate
A restored 19th-century estate inside Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, named after its last known resident, Mary Budden.…