Har Ki Dun Trek

An 8 hour road drive from Dehradun to Sankri via the beautiful hills of Mussoorie, Barkot & Purola. You can take a bus or hire a taxi from Dehradun to Sankri.

Your stay is arranged at a guest house in Sankri.

From Taluka, its best to start early in the morning after a good breakfast and get some aloo-paranthas packed from a dhaba for lunch. There is a short descent to the river followed by level walking on the path heading east along the river for about 40 mins, which brings you to a bridge. Cross the bridge and you are in the small meadow. Two paths branch out – one goes up the mountain, and the other goes left along the river. Head north-east, up the river. This is easy, level walking, keeping the river to your left. Then the path turns east and starts climbing up the mountain. It’s a gentle gradient as the track meanders through green forest.

If you have started early, there is no need to hurry and you can savour the sights and sound of the forest. Walk uphill for about an hour, then there’s descent to a cute bridge over a stream, and then another 30 mins of climbing up. Another half an hour of almost level walking brings you to the gentle descent for Gangad village, with houses across the river, perched on the hillside. Hot tea awaits you at a small dhaba so pull out the aloo-paranthas from your backpack and dig into them !

For Seema/Osla (a village that has two names!), recross the river, and continue walking up river for another couple of hours of easy walking. There is a little uphill climb at places. Landslides, rains and fallen trees necessitate small detours at times. You start passing cultivated fields as you near Seema / Osla Village. There is a Forest Rest House and a Garhwal Mandal Guest House and two dhabas for tea and food. The village is across the river with houses clinging on the steep hillside.( If you have the energy, just an hour’s walk east will bring you to a large pleasant meadow called Debsu Thatch, where you can pitch your tent. However, there are no dhabas here and you will have to cook your own food.)

Start early recrossing to the left bank of the Asi Ganga. Heading north-east along the river, you cross a little bridge, which frequently gets washed away ! It is only a small stream, with convenient boulders to cross if the bridge is missing. as you turn a bend, barely 200m later, look north. There is an enchanting little waterfall emerging from tree-fringed mountains. Climb along the river for another 500m until you come to an intersection. The path branching off towards the north-west will take you across the river and onwards to Har-Ki-Dun Valley. The path descends towards a bridge across the river. It may take time to traverse this stretch because it gets muddy just near the bridge and it is wiser to negotiate the slippery terrain cautiously. Once across the bridge, a level 30-mins walk between the wheat fields brings you to the path going north-east. The sun is already quite fierce by now. A 2-3 hr moderate climb brings you to the meadow at the top. Rolling grass and alpine flowers greet you and provide an ideal setting for a lunch break. This is the grazing pasture land of the Seema/Osla village. As you look east, down below you can see the Ruinsara Gad or stream and a cute bridge, which takes you to Ruinsara Tal.

It takes another couple of hours of pleasant, leisurely walking to cross the meadows and arrive at a sparse forest. About an hour on this track brings you to an open tin-roofed structure where you acn stop for a biscuit break. Then the track heads down a moderate slope, bringing you to a small stream with a rickety bridge. Climb down, cross and then climb up for about 30 mins. Another hour of easy walking brings you to the playful Har-Ki-Dun Gad with the water cascading around boulders. There is a sturdy wooden bridge, which you cross, and a short climb brings you to a nice camping place if you want to pitch your tent. Or walk another 15 mins and you are at the Forest Rest House in the Har-Ki-Dun Valley.

Spend a day resting at Har-Ki-Dun, going on short walks and enjoying the vistas or if you’re still up for exercise and stiff climbing, you can head north-east up the valley 4 km to the Jaundar Glacier (4,300m). This may require technical skills and it may be better to walk up just a couple of kilometres there and back.

From Osla, you can retrace your steps back to Taluka on Day 4 and a jeep drive to Sankri, the same evening. Sankri has some good options for a night stay – GMVN guesthouse and few good hotels.

Trail down from Puani Gharat to Taluka in 4-5 hours and then drive 11 km back to Sankri.

Say goodbye to Sankri & drive back to Dehradun