On Thursday 8 October the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) issued its latest advisory on the state of the trails. It listed almost every trekking region in the country as open and safe, with road problems on the way to some of them. Three days later, before dawn on Sunday, a flash flood came down the Budhi Gandaki and took the Manaslu approach off that list.
This article puts the two together. The regional lines come from TAAN's advisory as reported by The Tourism Times on 9 October; the Manaslu lines come from Sunday morning's reports. We are writing at about midday Nepal Time on 11 October 2026, and we have not walked these trails this week ourselves. Each line says where it comes from and when, because in this season a status is only as good as its date.
The Status Table
| Region | Trails | Getting there | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manaslu Circuit, Tsum Valley | Lower valley hit by a flash flood. Houses and bridges lost between Arughat and Philim; trekkers reported stranded on the circuit | Road and trail in are broken in several places. Do not start | 11 Oct, press and officials |
| Everest (Base Camp, Gokyo, Three Passes) | Open and safe | By air to Lukla. Not affected by the floods | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Himal, Poon Hill, Sikles | Operating as usual | From Pokhara. Fly from Kathmandu if the highway is in doubt | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Annapurna Circuit | Open over the Thorong La; several groups crossed in the days before the advisory, after snow was cleared | Road open to Chame, local jeeps from Bhratang to upper Manang. TAAN advises starting from Dharapani | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Tilicho Lake | Reopened after snow clearance | As for the Annapurna Circuit | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Nar Phu | Accessible. A temporary wooden bridge has been put in near Ratodanda | From the Annapurna Circuit road at Koto | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Upper Mustang | Accessible on foot and by vehicle | Fly to Jomsom, or private jeep from Dana, Jomsom or Kagbeni. Road open between Muktinath and Dana | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Langtang, Kyanjin, Gosaikunda | Trails reported safe | Kathmandu–Syabrubesi road closed after bridges collapsed at Betrawati and Syabrubesi. Walk in through Helambu, or cross at Betrawati on foot | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Helambu | Open and safe | From Kathmandu by way of Sundarijal | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Ganesh Himal, Ruby Valley | Reported unharmed | Dhunche and Syabrubesi access closed. Of TAAN's two alternatives, Arughat was hit on Sunday, which leaves Dhadingbesi | 8 and 11 Oct |
| Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Rolwaling | Open and safe | Unaffected | 8 Oct, TAAN |
| Dhaulagiri, Dolpo, Rara, Jumla, Humla, far west | Open and safe | Unaffected | 8 Oct, TAAN |
What Changed on Sunday
From about 04:00 on Sunday 11 October a flood of water, mud and boulders came down the Budhi Gandaki from Chumnubri in northern Gorkha. The full account is in our report on the flood. For trekking, these are the facts that matter as of midday:
- Bridges. The Assistant Chief District Officer of Gorkha, Netra Prasad Sharma, counts six lost: two road bridges, at Arughat and at Soti, and four suspension bridges further up, including Machha Khola to Kerauja and Ghatte Khola to Philim.
- People. No deaths had been confirmed on Sunday morning. Mr Sharma said at least ten people were out of contact. Earlier reports had named four herders on the Ungilung Khola.
- Trekkers. Ratopati reported at 10:25 that tourists who had reached the Manaslu Circuit were stranded after the bridges went, without giving a number. The army has airlifted six people from Jagat; the reports do not say who they were.
- Official position. We had seen no formal notice suspending trekking by midday. After the smaller flood at Namrung on 6 September the District Administration Office in Gorkha issued one the same day.
Several of our own trips use this valley, among them the Manaslu Circuit, the Tsum Valley, the Larke Pass trek and the Lower Manaslu trek, which finishes at Machha Khola. None of them should be started until the valley has been assessed. The same goes for any Ganesh Himal or Ruby Valley itinerary that was planning to go in through Arughat.
Annapurna: Open, With a Rough Road In
The Annapurna region had its own bad week at the end of September. Two days of heavy rain on the 26th and 27th brought debris down the Ghatte Khola into the Marsyangdi at Chame, damming the river, submerging the road bridge and cutting upper Manang off by road. The Himalayan Times reported hundreds of tourists held up along the circuit. On the 27th an avalanche struck the base camp of Himlung Himal, in the Nar Phu area, and killed fifteen expedition staff who were preparing the mountain for the season.
By 8 October TAAN's advisory described a region back in use:
- The southern treks — Ghandruk and Ghorepani, Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Himal, Sikles — were operating as usual. These start near Pokhara and were not touched by the Manang floods.
- The Annapurna Circuit was open over the Thorong La, with several groups across in the previous five days once snow had been cleared.
- The road was open as far as Chame, with local jeeps running from Bhratang to upper Manang. Kantipur reported that the Besisahar–Chame road had been reopened after repairs at 35 places and that the risk on it remained.
- TAAN's advice was to start walking from Dharapani, which also gives a better acclimatisation line than driving high.
- Tilicho Lake had reopened, and Nar Phu was accessible over a temporary wooden bridge near Ratodanda, with two groups on their way to the Kang La.
The practical reading: the circuit can be walked, the road in is patched, and jeep times above Besisahar are longer and less certain than the brochures say. The route itself is described in our Annapurna Circuit guide.
Langtang and Gosaikunda: Safe Trails, Broken Road
Langtang is the clearest case of a destination that is fine and a road that is not. The flood of 26 August came down the Bhote Koshi and the Trishuli, the valley the road to Syabrubesi follows, and took the bridges at Betrawati and Syabrubesi. The trekking valleys above are on different streams, and TAAN reports the trails to Kyanjin and Gosaikunda as safe.
- The road from Kathmandu to Syabrubesi remained closed on 8 October. A Bailey bridge was being installed at Betrawati.
- The walking alternative is to start from Kathmandu through Sundarijal and Chisapani, cross Helambu to Gosaikunda, and descend to the Langtang valley by Thulo Syabru, returning the same way. It adds several days.
- The shorter alternative is to drive to Betrawati, cross a temporary wooden bridge on foot, and take a local jeep on to Dhunche or Thulo Syabru.
This is a region still in mourning. The August flood killed at least 1,400 people and left nearly 5,300 missing, according to UN agencies on 9 October, in Rasuwa and the districts downstream. Anyone going should expect a valley that is rebuilding and should take their lead from the people who live there. The usual route is in our Langtang guide and the walk-in in our Helambu guide.
Everest, Mustang and the Rest
Everest is reached by air and sits in a different river system from every flood this season. TAAN lists it as open and safe. Its seasonal risk is the ordinary one, flights to Lukla held by weather, which is covered in our guide to Lukla delays.
Upper Mustang is accessible on foot and by vehicle according to TAAN, with private jeeps running from Dana, Jomsom and Kagbeni and the road open between Muktinath and Dana. The simplest approach is a flight from Pokhara to Jomsom. A magnitude 5.3 earthquake earlier in the season damaged some houses and monasteries there; TAAN reported trails, lodges and communications working.
Kanchenjunga, Makalu and Rolwaling in the east, and Dhaulagiri, Dolpo, Rara, Jumla, Humla and the far west, are all listed as open and safe and are a long way from the damaged valleys.
How to Read 'Open and Safe'
The phrase needs three questions asked of it.
- Open on what date? Manaslu was open and safe on Thursday and flooded on Sunday. A status older than a few days is history, not information.
- The destination, or the way to it? Almost every problem this autumn has been on an access road or a valley-floor bridge, not on the high trail. Langtang is safe and hard to reach. Ask about both separately.
- Who says so? An association of trekking agencies reports from its members and has an interest in the season going ahead. That does not make it wrong, and its advisories have been specific and useful, but the District Administration Office is the body that closes and opens a route.
And three things worth asking any agency, ours included, before you commit to a route this season: when their last group came off it, how they would get you out if the road closed behind you, and what happens to your booking if the route shuts before you start.
If your trip was Manaslu, the options are set out in alternatives to the Manaslu Circuit. For the road from Kathmandu to Pokhara, see the Prithvi Highway status.
Sources
- The Tourism Times — TAAN's advisory of 8 October 2026 and its September update
- The Kathmandu Post — damage from the Budhi Gandaki flood and the Marsyangdi cutting off upper Manang
- Sankalpa Khabar (Nepali) — six bridges lost, ten people out of contact
- Ratopati (Nepali) — tourists stranded on the Manaslu Circuit
- The Himalayan Times — tourists stranded in Manang in late September
- Kantipur (Nepali) — Besisahar–Chame road reopened after repairs at 35 places
- Xinhua — the Himlung base camp avalanche
- UN News — the toll of the August flood
