Dhaulagiri Circuit Trek

Welcome to Nepal. You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you in the arrivals hall and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.

This trek carries a longer briefing than most. Your guide goes through the full eighteen-day plan, the camping routine, the two pass crossings, and the equipment we supply — crampons, ice axe, tents, and the kitchen the crew carries. We check your personal kit carefully against the list, because once the group leaves Dobang there is nothing to buy and nothing to hire for about ten days. Anything missing can be bought or rented in Thamel this afternoon.

The rest of the day is free. Overnight in Kathmandu.

After breakfast we leave the Kathmandu Valley on the Prithvi Highway, following the Trishuli River west through gorge country with terraced hillsides above and whitewater below.

The drive to Pokhara (822 m) covers roughly 200 km and takes most of the day, with a lunch stop at a riverside restaurant. If you would rather not spend the day on the road, the 25-minute flight is available as an add-on.

Pokhara arrives in the late afternoon, spread along the shore of Phewa Lake with the Annapurnas behind it. This is the last comfortable evening before the tents: use it to repack, hand over anything you want left behind, and have a proper dinner. Overnight in Pokhara.

An early start for the drive west through Beni, the district town at the confluence of the Kali Gandaki and the Myagdi Khola, and on up a rough hill road to the roadhead at Darbang (1,110 m). Four to five hours in the vehicle, the last part slow and bumpy.

The walking starts here. The trail crosses the Myagdi Khola and climbs gently through terraced fields of millet and maize, past Magar villages with slate roofs and buffalo tethered under the eaves. This is working farmland rather than trekking country, and children walking home from school are the main traffic on the path.

Dharapani (1,560 m) is a village strung along the hillside above the river, with Dhaulagiri's outliers appearing to the north for the first time. Around 3 hours of walking. Overnight at Dharapani.

A steady day through the middle hills, with more up and down than the small altitude gain suggests.

The trail contours above the Myagdi Khola through Sibang and Phalai Gaon, dropping to cross side streams on suspension bridges and climbing back onto the shoulder each time. The forest here is subtropical — banana and bamboo low down, giving way to pine as you gain height — and the villages are Magar, one of the hill communities that made this valley their home long before trekkers arrived.

The last climb brings you onto the shelf at Muri (1,850 m), a substantial village of stone houses with a school and a handful of shops. From the fields above it you get the first uninterrupted view of Dhaulagiri I (8,167 m) at the head of the valley, which is a useful reminder of where the next week goes. Around 6 hours. Overnight at Muri.

The valley begins to close in today and the trail becomes noticeably rougher.

From Muri the path drops steeply to the Dhara Khola, crosses it, and climbs through Naura to traverse a long exposed hillside high above the Myagdi Khola. Sections here are cut into the slope and are narrow, with a considerable drop below — straightforward in dry conditions but taken slowly and one at a time when the ground is wet.

The forest thickens into oak and rhododendron and the farmland thins out. Boghara (2,080 m) sits on a small terrace above the river, the last village with a permanent population and the last place with any kind of shop. Everything above this point comes out of a porter's load. Around 6–7 hours. Overnight at Boghara.

A short but rough day that takes the group out of settled country for the last time.

The trail climbs to a ridge above Boghara, drops through dense forest to Jyardan — a couple of herders' huts rather than a village — and then follows a high, narrow path carved along the gorge wall. In places the route has been rebuilt after landslides and your guide will scout ahead before the group crosses.

The forest is magnificent through this section: old oak and rhododendron hung with moss, ferns underfoot, and the river a constant noise a long way below. Langur monkeys are common and you may hear pheasant in the undergrowth.

Dobang (2,520 m) is a flat clearing at a river confluence with room for the tents. From tonight the group is entirely self-contained. Around 5–6 hours. Overnight camping at Dobang.

The biggest single climb of the approach, gaining over 1,100 m and finishing above the treeline in full view of the mountain.

The trail follows the Myagdi Khola upstream through birch and juniper, crossing avalanche debris in two places where winter snow has swept the slope clean. The valley bends north and the forest gives out, replaced by open alpine meadow and low scrub. The change in the air is obvious — thinner, colder, and much quieter.

The last hour brings the group onto the meadow at Italian Base Camp (3,660 m), and the view stops most people where they stand: the south face of Dhaulagiri I rises 4,000 m directly ahead, one of the largest and steepest mountain walls on earth, with the Chhonbardan Glacier spilling out of its foot.

Around 6–7 hours. Take the afternoon slowly — this is a real altitude gain. Overnight camping at Italian Base Camp.

A full day at the same camp, and one that pays for itself over the pass a week from now.

After a slow breakfast we walk up the moraine on the west side of the glacier to around 4,100 m and come back down to sleep — the standard climb-high, sleep-low approach that persuades your body to start producing the red blood cells the passes will demand. It is three to four hours of easy walking with a lot of stopping to look at the face.

The rest of the day is for rest, laundry in a bowl, and watching Dhaulagiri. Avalanches come off the south face through the afternoon with a delay of several seconds between the sight and the sound, and the scale only becomes clear when you try to follow one all the way down.

Your guide checks everyone for headache, appetite, and sleep tonight, because from here the camps only get higher. Overnight camping at Italian Base Camp.

A short day in distance and a slow one in practice, because today the group steps onto the glacier.

The trail drops to the Chhonbardan Glacier and picks a line up its lateral moraine — loose rock, ice underfoot in places, and no path in the ordinary sense. Your guide reads the route ahead and the group moves together, with poles out and steady footing more important than speed. Crampons come out of the bag if the ice is bare.

The valley walls close in on both sides and the noise changes: meltwater running under the ice, and rockfall clattering off the slopes as the sun comes round. Look back down the glacier for the classic view of Dhaulagiri's south-west ridge.

Glacier Camp (4,210 m) is exactly what its name suggests — tents pitched on flattened moraine beside the ice. It is cold as soon as the sun goes off the valley, usually by four in the afternoon. Around 4–5 hours. Overnight camping at Glacier Camp.

A steady climb up the glacier to the highest camp before the pass, and a day where altitude sets the pace rather than distance.

The route continues on the moraine and then onto the ice itself, weaving between old crevasses and pressure ridges. Progress is slow and deliberate; five hours today covers ground you would walk in two at sea level. The crew goes ahead to have tea ready.

Dhaulagiri Base Camp (4,750 m) is an amphitheatre of rock and ice at the head of the glacier, used by expeditions attempting the north-east ridge. Dhaulagiri I, Dhaulagiri II, Tukuche Peak, and Sita Chuchura stand around the camp, and the French Pass is visible as a notch on the skyline to the north-east — tomorrow's line, and it looks a long way up.

Around 4–5 hours. Drink more than you want to and eat even if your appetite has gone. Overnight camping at Dhaulagiri Base Camp.

A second acclimatization day, and the one that decides whether the French Pass goes well or badly.

The morning is a short walk up the moraine towards the foot of the pass, gaining two or three hundred metres to look at the line and let your body register the height, then back to camp for lunch. Your guide uses the walk to watch how everyone is moving and breathing at 5,000 m.

The afternoon is deliberately idle: rest, hot drinks, and a gear check. This is where crampons are fitted and adjusted, the rope is laid out, and your guide runs through the pass drill — the order the group walks in, what to do if the weather closes, and the turnaround time. Tomorrow starts before dawn.

If the weather is settled the evening light on Dhaulagiri from this camp is the best of the trek. If it is not, this is the day we spend waiting rather than pushing on. Overnight camping at Dhaulagiri Base Camp.

The crux of the trek, and the day everything so far has been preparation for.

We leave camp in the dark to be on the pass before the wind gets up. The climb is long rather than steep — a sustained grind up snow and scree with the group moving slowly and together, roped if conditions require it. Sunrise catches Dhaulagiri behind you while you are still in shadow.

The French Pass (5,360 m) is a broad saddle marked with prayer flags, and the view from it is the reason people come: Dhaulagiri I and II, Tukuche Peak, Sita Chuchura, and Mukut Himal arranged around the horizon, with the Tibetan plateau light beyond. It is cold and usually windy, so photographs are taken quickly.

The descent north drops into Hidden Valley (5,050 m), a wide closed basin of frozen grass and stone with no trees, no village, and no way out except over a pass in either direction. Camping here is memorably cold — expect -20°C — and memorably quiet. Around 6–7 hours. Overnight camping at Hidden Valley.

A second pass and then the longest descent of the trek — around 1,600 m of down in an afternoon.

The climb out of Hidden Valley to the Dhampus Pass (5,290 m), known locally as Thapa Bhanjyang, is shorter than yesterday's but the snow is often deeper and the wind on the crest is relentless. From the top the whole Annapurna range opens to the east across the Kali Gandaki, with Nilgiri, Annapurna I, and Tilicho Peak lined up in the distance and the brown Mustang hills to the north.

The descent is long, loose, and hard on the knees: scree and then steep grass, dropping out of the snow into a landscape that becomes recognisably inhabited again. Poles help enormously here.

Yak Kharka (3,680 m) is a summer grazing pasture with running water and, after a week on ice, the extraordinary luxury of soft ground to pitch on. Around 7–8 hours. Overnight camping at Yak Kharka.

A descent into an entirely different world, and for most groups the most enjoyable day of the trip.

The trail drops steadily off the pasture through juniper and scrub into the Kali Gandaki, the deepest valley on earth measured between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. The wind funnels up it from late morning, as it does every day of the year, and you walk the last section leaning into it.

Marpha (2,670 m) arrives as a shock after ten days of tents: a Thakali village of whitewashed houses and flagstone lanes, with irrigation channels running under the street, a gompa above the rooftops, and apple orchards on every terrace around it. The village is known across Nepal for apples — pie, cider, dried rings, and the local brandy.

Tonight is a lodge, a hot shower, and a bed. Around 5–6 hours. Overnight at Marpha.

A short, easy final walking day along the valley floor, deliberately relaxed after two weeks of hard ground.

The trail follows the Kali Gandaki north through Syang, on the broad grey riverbed under Nilgiri (7,061 m) and Dhaulagiri facing each other across the valley. This stretch is famous for shaligram — black ammonite fossils in the riverbed, remains of the sea floor that was lifted here when the range formed.

Jomsom (2,720 m) is the district headquarters of Mustang, split across the river with an airstrip, government offices, and a good bakery. It is a two to three hour walk and you arrive in time for lunch.

The afternoon is free to wander the town, visit the small mountaineering museum, and settle up with the crew — this is where the porters and cook staff leave the group, and where tips are given. Overnight at Jomsom.

A long and spectacular day on the road down the Kali Gandaki, following the river the whole way.

The jeep leaves early and drops through Marpha, Tukuche, and Larjung with the gorge deepening around it, then Kalopani and Ghasa where the barren Mustang landscape suddenly turns green again and the vegetation returns valley by valley. The road is rough as far as Beni and paved from there to Pokhara.

Between Larjung and Ghasa you are driving through the deepest part of the gorge, with Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) and Annapurna I (8,091 m) standing seven kilometres above the road on either side — the view that makes the drive worth doing at least once.

Roughly 8–9 hours including stops, arriving in Pokhara (822 m) in the evening. If you would rather fly, the 20-minute Jomsom to Pokhara flight is available as an add-on. Overnight in Pokhara.

A relaxed start. If you wake early, the sunrise over the Annapurnas from the lakeside is worth it, and a boat across Phewa Lake fills an hour before breakfast.

We then drive east along the Prithvi Highway to Kathmandu (1,400 m), back through the Trishuli gorge country with a lunch stop en route. It is a full day on the road; the 25-minute flight is available as an add-on if you would rather keep the afternoon free.

You arrive in the late afternoon and transfer to your hotel. The evening is free, and Thamel is the place for last-minute shopping. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your last day in Nepal. If your flight leaves later in the day there is time to see a little more of the valley — Boudhanath Stupa is the most rewarding half-day option, with Pashupatinath and Swayambhunath close behind.

Our representative collects you from your hotel and transfers you to Tribhuvan International Airport around three hours before departure.

Over eighteen days you have walked a complete circle around an 8,000 m peak, slept three nights on a glacier, and crossed two passes above 5,200 m — a route that a small fraction of the trekkers in Nepal each season attempt. If you want the same commitment somewhere else, the Makalu Base Camp and Kanchenjunga circuits are the natural next steps. Safe travels.