The ‘Great Lakes’ as the name suggests treks through many high altitudes alpine lakes situated at the foothills of different snowy mountain peaks in Kashmir. The trails pass through streams, plenty of colourful meadows and cross three mountain passes. The trek from Sonamarg to Naranag via Nichnai Pass is among the most beautiful trekking routes in the Himalayas. The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek has innumerable beautiful alpine lakes throughout its trails. The vistas will leave you with memories that would last a lifetime. Since it’s a moderate level trek, it can be taken up by amateur trekkers and fit first-timers. Arduous days, steep and rocky passes and altitudes approaching 4200m all make it a moderately challenging trek in one of the most beautiful and serene parts of Kashmir.

Kashmir Great Lakes Trek Location and How to Reach?

The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek begins from the town of Sonamarg and the easiest way to get there is to fly to Srinagar, where Adventure-Pulse representatives will meet you. From Srinagar, you will drive to Sonamarg and spend the night there. It is around 3 hours drive through a scenic route from Srinagar to Sonamarg. The trekking itself begins from Day 2, where you start the hike from Sitkari village near Sonamarg and trek up to the famous Tabletop (Shokdari camp) and set up your very first camp site. From there it’s a 7-day trek through the most beautiful part of Kashmir, all the way up to a small town of Naranag where you finish the trek.

The Kashmir Great lakes Trek is hands down the most beautiful trek in India. The meadows and vistas draw comparison to Switzerland and the Banff, but we think it’s even better when it comes to the scenic beauty. The various lakes you will cross are Krishnasar, Vishnusar, Gadsar, Satsar, Nandkol and finally Gangabal. These large alpine lakes change colour as the day progresses and it is truly a spectacle to look out for. The trek takes you through different alpine landscapes and you will be awestruck by the drastic way the landscape changes.

Best time for Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

The best time to do the Kahsmir Great Lakes Trek is from July to September. The weather is pleasant with bright summer skies in the day and pleasant nights. The average temperature can range from 10-15 degrees in the day to 0-5 degrees at night.

Although these are the months with favorable weather conditions for trekking in Kashmir, there is also high chances of rain and occasional showers, so make sure you carry a poncho or raingear to protect you from the rain. When it rains in the mountains, expect it to pour.

How difficult is the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek? What to expect?

The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek is a trek that involves 8 days of trekking. Over the days, you will cross 3 high altitude passes namely the Nichnai Pass, Gadsar Pass and Zaj Pass. The hardest parts of the trek are the climb up to the passes which constitutes about 25-35% of the trek. Apart from the climbs, most of the terrain is relatively flat with long gradual descents through green colorful meadows.

You will be crossing majestic silver birch, pine and deodar forests as you journey above the tree line on day one and back down to civilization on day seven. For most part of the trek, you will be crossing meadows larger stretch of meadows surrounded by majestic snow-covered mountains. You could also see huge glaciers from the distance that melt and feed the lakes you find on the trek.

On an average, you can expect to walk for around 7-8 hours a day. We encourage people to walk slowly and at their own pace so that they can acclimatize properly. While on the trek you will be camping at serene campsites next to the lakes. We will provide comfortable tents, sleeping mats and sleeping bags to make your camping experience as comfortable as possible. You can learn more about the staying arrangement and the different meals in the link below.

Everything You Need to Know About The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek.

The 3 mountain passes on the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

Nichnai Pass :

The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek takes you through three passes. The very first pass you will be crossing is the Nichnai pass. The pass stands at a staggering altitude of 4097 Meters. After crossing your campsite at Table Top, you will be entering the Nichnai valley. The Nichnai valley homes vast meadows, some sections covered by beautiful trees of Pine and Birch (Bhojpatra) and also flowing streams that are the major source of water for the trekkers. Trekkers spend one night at the Nichnai campsite, which is right under the pass itself, in order to minimize the time taken to cross over to the other side of the valley.

The journey towards the foot/base of the pass takes anywhere between 1 to 2 hours depending on where your campsite is located. On this trail, you will be walking through a combination of trails, which include small bolder sections, narrow ridges and flat paths alongside small streams. Once at the foot of the Nichnai pass, there is a steep ascent all the way up to the top, which will take us anywhere between 1 to 2 hours depending on the pace of the group.

The views from the Nichnai pass are absolutely stunning. Imagine being surround by 360 degree views of the magnificent mountains, and standing literally in the middle of nowhere. The Nichnai pass is also very windy and it also tends to get cold so make sure you have your layers on. The pass also has a temporary shelter, popularly called the Maggie point where you can sit, and relax before you head on the descent. Most of the times, trekkers prefer to have a cup hot Kahwa and Maggie and also catch on to their breath before moving ahead.

Once ready to move, we move on to the next part of the journey which is the descent that leads us to the other side of the valley. This descent can be tricky like any other, due to narrow paths and gravel. However, it’s a short descent and will take you around 45 – minutes to an hour before reaching the flat meadows of Gadsar.

Gadsar Pass :

The next pass that you will be crossing over is the Gadsar Pass. Before actually crossing the Gadsar pass one would already be in the Gadsar valley. After crossing over the first pass, Nichnai Pass, the valley opens up in to the meadows of Gadsar Valley. The onwards journey takes you to the most stunning lakes of all, The Gadsar Lake. This lake is usually becomes a lunch point of the journey before continuing the gradual hike to the Gadsar campsite. The trek to Gadsar lake takes anywhere between 1.5 to 2 hours and you will be walking through huge meadows adorned with colourful flowers all around. Apart from the Gadsar Lake you will also see multiple small glacial lakes and small streams on the way. After crossing a beautiful flowing stream, you will finally reach this massive lake surrounded by huge boulders. On a clear day, you can see the beautiful turquoise water of the lake shimmering right in the middle. This is a sight to behold as the water changes its colours every few seconds because of the reflection of the sky.

After spending a night in the Gadsar valley, it is time to cross over the Gadsar Pass. The steep climb up to the Gadsar pass is more challenging to navigate through in comparison to the Nichnai pass. This pass stands at an altitude of 4200 meters.

The steep gradient of the narrow trails filled with gravel and the altitude close to 4000 meters, all make it a challenging trek. It will take us around 2 hours to cross over the Gadsar pass and another hour and half to descend down.

Zaj Pass :

This is the last pass of the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek. Zaj pass in isolation is actually an easy pass and is not as steep as the other two. However, the overall journey of the day does pit your endurance to test. Before approaching the Zaj pass, one has to cross a huge section of boulders which will take at least an hour or more to cross. This section of boulders is usually the most dreaded boulder section of the journey. It is always recommended that you seek help from the team if you are not very comfortable and sure about balancing your body weight on uneven terrain. After crossing these boulders we have another section of a steep climb, it’s a small hill that will take us only 30 to 40 minutes. Post this climb, as you reach your rest point, you can clearly see the top of the Zaj Pass. After resting for a bit we start walking towards the Pass. Zaj pass is not steep, and has a very gradual climb. This also happens to be the most awaited pass as the views from the top of the pass are absolutely stunning. We get a bird’s eye view of the Nundkol and the Gangabal lakes from the top and also stunning views of Mount Harmukh standing right in front of our eyes.

The descent from Zaj pass is short but tricky. The entire descent is filled with gravel and after navigating through the zing zag trails we reach the meadow leading towards the Nundkol Lake which will be the last campsite on the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek.