Seven off-beat Himalayan treks from Dehradun and Kathgodam: sacred glacial lakes, untrodden high meadows and twin glaciers on the rim of the Nanda Devi Biosphere, led by veterans from Special Forces.
Explore our off-beat treks in Uttarakhand, from the outer rim of the Nanda Devi Biosphere to the turquoise shores of Shiva's Lake — each route is a distinct world.
Garhwal & Kumaon
Carefully paced itineraries
Kedartal, Shiva's Lake
All-inclusive expeditions
Sacred Dodital lake, Bandarpunch & Gangotri views across open forest ridges.
Vast high meadow with Gangotri peaks panorama — off-beat and utterly solitary.
Twin glaciers deep in the Nanda Devi Biosphere, starting from Kathgodam via Loharkhet and Khati.
Valley of Beautiful Stones — glacially polished boulders beneath Maiktoli & Panwali Dwar.
Har-ki-Dun valley & Swargarohini peak with an immersive 48-hour wilderness survival module.
Turquoise glacial tarn at 4,750m below the soaring Thalay Sagar granite spire — Shiva's Lake.
Sacred triangular lake at 4,600m beyond Mana — India's last village — near 145m Vasudhara Falls.
Moderate · 5 days · ₹22,000 per person · from Dehradun
A gentle ridge-top above the sacred lake of Dodital — big Himalayan views on an achievable moderate trek.
Waypoints: Dehradun → Agoda village → Dodital → Darwa Top
Hidden gem: Darwa Top (3,400 m) — Dodital has a temple, a forest hut and a steady trickle of weekend trekkers; the ridge above it to Darwa Top has almost none.
Skills you'll learn: Altitude self-monitoring, cold-camp craft, stream crossings and reading glaciers and high lakes — Level 2 of the Skills Passport.
Difficult · 6 days · ₹24,500 per person · from Dehradun
One of Garhwal's largest and least-trodden high meadows — a true off-beat alternative to Dayara.
Waypoints: Dehradun → Bhangeli village → Forest camp → Gidara meadow base → Gidara Bugyal high point → Meadow base
Hidden gem: Gidara Bugyal high point (3,900 m) — A meadow the size of Dayara's but with no commercial departures: a handful of shepherds in season and a few hundred trekkers a year.
Skills you'll learn: Altitude self-monitoring, cold-camp craft, stream crossings and reading glaciers and high lakes — Level 2 of the Skills Passport.
Difficult · 7 days · ₹27,400 per person · from Kathgodam
Two glaciers in one trek, on the outer rim of the Nanda Devi Biosphere — a Kumaon classic done off the tourist beat.
Waypoints: Kathgodam → Loharkhet → Khati village → Dwali → Pindari Zero Point → Kafni Glacier view
Hidden gem: Kafni Glacier viewpoint (3,850 m) — Most parties do Pindari Zero Point and turn home; the Kafni branch has no huts, no shops and a fraction of the footfall.
Skills you'll learn: Altitude self-monitoring, cold-camp craft, stream crossings and reading glaciers and high lakes — Level 2 of the Skills Passport.
Difficult · 8 days · ₹34,000 per person · from Dehradun
A wild, committing walk up the Kedar Ganga to a sacred glacial lake mirrored by 6,000 m peaks.
Waypoints: Dehradun → Harsil village → Gangotri → Bhoj Kharak → Kedar Kharak → Kedartal → Harsil
Hidden gem: Kedartal (4,750 m) — A glacial tarn under Thalay Sagar with no tea-houses, no huts and a boulder-moraine approach that keeps numbers to a few hundred a year.
Skills you'll learn: Altitude self-monitoring, cold-camp craft, stream crossings and reading glaciers and high lakes — Level 2 of the Skills Passport.
Difficult · 8 days · ₹35,000 per person · from Rishikesh
From Mana past a towering waterfall to a mythic three-cornered lake beneath Satopanth and Swargarohini.
Waypoints: Rishikesh → Pandukeshwar village → Mana village → Vasudhara Falls → Laxmi Van → Chakratirtha → Satopanth Tal → Mana → Pandukeshwar
Hidden gem: Satopanth Tal (4,600 m) — A triangular lake above the Alaknanda's source, reached across moraine with no camps, huts or shops after Mana.
Skills you'll learn: Altitude self-monitoring, cold-camp craft, stream crossings and reading glaciers and high lakes — Level 2 of the Skills Passport.
Difficult · 8 days · ₹38,900 per person · from Dehradun
The flagship — an off-beat Supin-valley trek with a supervised 48-hour Himalayan survival module built in.
Waypoints: Dehradun → Sankri village → Pauni Garaat → Osla / Gangad village → Har-ki-Dun meadow → Maninda Tal → Survival camp → Survival module → Osla → Sankri
Hidden gem: Maninda Tal (3,900 m) — A small lake 2 hours beyond Har-ki-Dun on the way to Borasu, visited by a tiny fraction of the valley's trekkers.
Skills you'll learn: The full mountain-survival track: thermoregulation, belayed river crossing, emergency shelter, night navigation and a casualty carry — Level 3.
Difficult · 8 days · ₹30,200 per person · from Kathgodam
The 'Valley of Beautiful Stones' — the wildest, least-commercial of the three Pindari-region valleys.
Waypoints: Kathgodam → Loharkhet → Khati village → Jatoli / Kathaliya → Sundardhunga base → Maiktoli viewpoint
Hidden gem: Maiktoli base (3,600 m) below Panwali Dwar — The 'Valley of Beautiful Stones' is the least-trodden of the three Pindari-region valleys: no tea-shops after Jatoli, a shepherd's hut at Kathaliya.
Skills you'll learn: Altitude self-monitoring, cold-camp craft, stream crossings and reading glaciers and high lakes — Level 2 of the Skills Passport.
All prices are all-inclusive. Every route is led by veterans from Special Forces with local Himalayan guides and full safety and logistics support.
Moderate · 5 days · ₹22,000
Difficult · 6 days · ₹24,500
Difficult · 7 days · ₹27,400
Difficult · 8 days · ₹30,200
Difficult · 8 days · ₹38,900
Difficult · 8 days · ₹34,000
Difficult · 8 days · ₹35,000
Every route leaves you with new mountain skills and the confidence to return to the Himalaya.
Uttarakhand — the Garhwal & Kumaon Himalaya