How to Reach Valley of Flowers National Park, India

SlashGriffon

Editor

posted on 11 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

2
views

The Valley of Flowers National Park lies in the northern part of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. This national park shares borders with Nepal and Tibet. During the monsoon season, this magnificent valley comes alive with more than 300 varieties of Alpine flowers and the entire valley blooms with a carpet of flowers in multiple colors. The snow-capped peaks provide a perfect backdrop for this natural wonder. The park is situated at a height of 3,600 meters (11,811.0 ft) above sea-level, and spreads around 87.5 square kilometers. It was declared a national park in 1982, and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Provided you are fit and don't mind an arduous trek, this is a site worth seeing.

Steps

Start at New Delhi. Choose your method of transportation that will take you in the right direction to reach the park: Flying: Take a flight up to Dehradun. Other transportation: Alternatively, you can either take a train, hire a car or take a bus directly to Rishikesh on Dehradun.

Get overnight accommodation. You will need to spend a night either at Dehradun or Rishikesh. You can resume the journey to the part the following day, understanding that it's a full day's journey.

Travel by road from Rishikesh or Dehradun to Joshimath. The ride can take anywhere between 11 to 13 hours. Joshimath is at an elevation of 1,890 meters (6,200.8 ft) above sea level, and has many reasonably priced hotels. Spend the night here, as the park is still some way yet.

Hire a taxi to reach Govindghat the next day. Govindghat is another 21 kilometers (13 mi) away from Joshimath. The arduous 17 kilometers (11 mi) trek to the Valley of Flowers park starts from this point.

Continue to Ghangaria. After a steep and rather difficult climb of around 14 kilometers (8.7 mi), you reach Ghangaria. This small village has several small hotels for a night's stay. Ghangaria serves as a base camp for Gurudwara Hemkund Saheb and the Valley of Flowers. However, the route for both these are different and need to be covered on different days. Note: You cannot stay overnight in the park. The only accommodation available is at the Ghangaria base camp. Plan accordingly, including the six hour return trek to visit the park.