Langtang Gosainkunda Circuit Trek

The shorter trek walks up to the lakes and returns on the same trail to Dhunche for the bus. This trek does not retrace its route. From Gosainkunda you cross the Laurebina La at 4,610 m into a third valley, Helambu, then walk south along the ridges for three more days and finish at Sundarijal, an hour from the hotel. It adds four days and one pass, with no repeated ground at the end.

You need to be fit enough for thirteen consecutive walking days, most of them five to seven hours and two of them eight hours. Train in particular for the pass day and the Kutumsang day. If you can walk six hours in hills at home, then walk five hours again the next morning comfortably, you are ready for this trek.

It is better suited as a second trek. The Langtang valley on its own is an excellent first trek, and this circuit adds a 4,610 m pass and a week of ridge walking to it. If you have never slept above 3,500 m, we recommend doing the valley trek first and returning for the circuit later.

Twelve is the minimum age for this trek, compared with ten on the valley trek, and we would like to speak with you first. The pass day is long and cold, and there is no easy way off the route once you start down the far side. A strong fourteen-year-old who walks regularly with you at home will be fine.

It is a long day rather than a hard climb. You climb for two hours from the lake over boulders and old snow to 4,610 m, in thin air and usually with a cold wind at the top. This is followed by 1,200 m of descent on loose rock, which takes four to five hours. No rope is needed, crampons are not needed in a normal season, and there is no exposure. We start at six and aim to be over the pass by nine.

We do not attempt it. If there is fresh snow, ice on the traverse below the pass or poor visibility, the guide turns the group around at the lake and leads you back down to Dhunche for the bus, following the route of the shorter Gosainkunda trek. This happens most often in January and February, in early December, and after a late spring storm. You miss the Helambu section, not the whole trip, and we refund the unused lodge and transport costs.

Not in October, November, March, April or May in a normal year. Microspikes are worth their two hundred grams in any month, and in early December or late February we carry them for the group as standard. If conditions require an ice axe, we should not be crossing the pass.

The usual published figure is 4,610 m and that is the figure we use. GPS units often read 4,630 to 4,650 m on the day, and some operators quote the higher figure, which is why sources differ. The viewpoint above Gosainkunda that you climb on the rest day is at about the same height, by design.

Without it, the altitude profile would be too steep. You sleep at 4,380 m and cross 4,610 m the following morning, after three days of steep climbing from 2,250 m. The extra day at the lake lets you walk up to the viewpoint at pass height and come back down to sleep, which follows the standard principle of climbing high and sleeping low.

Day 11, Sing Gompa to Gosainkunda, which gains about 1,050 m in one day to sleep at 4,380 m. That is more than we would normally accept, and it is why the Langtang section comes first: by then you have slept six nights above 2,400 m and two at 3,870 m, which gives you proper acclimatisation.

You need cover for helicopter rescue to 5,000 m, because Tserko Ri is 4,984 m. This is a condition of booking and we ask to see the certificate. A flight out from Kyanjin or from the lakes is short, about forty minutes, but still costs $2,500 to $4,000, and the helicopter will not take off without a guarantee of payment.

On 25 April 2015 the earthquake sheared a hanging block of ice and rock off Langtang Lirung. The debris and the air blast it pushed ahead of it buried almost the whole village. The official toll for the valley is 306 dead, including 175 of the roughly 370 locals present, 82 Nepalis from elsewhere and 49 foreign trekkers. Local people believe the real number is higher. The valley is safe to walk today and the ground is no more hazardous than any other Himalayan valley.

The trail crosses about half an hour of grey boulder field where the old village stood, with memorial stones and mani walls carved with names at the far side. The present village was rebuilt a little further up the valley by the families who survived, largely with their own labour and with income from trekking. Please pass the memorial quietly and do not photograph anyone there.

Yes, and most are better than before. Kyanjin Gompa now has the best lodges on the circuit, with hot showers and micro-hydro power. The cheese factory, built with Swiss help in 1955, was rebuilt with Swiss help again. Where you spend your money in this valley matters more than in most places.

Hindus believe that Shiva struck the mountain with his trident to create water after swallowing the poison churned from the ocean, and that he lies beneath the rock you can see in the lake. It is one of a chain of lakes said to number 108 and is a Ramsar wetland site. Both Hindus and Buddhists come here, which is unusual and characteristic of Nepal.

At the August full moon, tens of thousands of pilgrims climb to the lake over a few days, many of them overnight and some barefoot, to bathe and to change the sacred thread. It is a remarkable event, but finding a bed that week is very difficult. We do not run the circuit at that time, because of the crowds and because the pass is in monsoon cloud.

We believe it is, and it is the quietest walking of the trip. The route follows ridge after ridge of fir and moss, through Sherpa and Tamang villages that see far fewer trekkers than Langtang, and finishes on foot within an hour of your hotel. It is also the section people most often underestimate: three long days with a lot of ascent.

Langtang has the best lodges, most of them rebuilt since 2015, with hot showers and micro-hydro power. The lodges at Gosainkunda are basic and cold, and the water freezes. Helambu lodges are simple but warm and inexpensive, with fewer beds in each village, so we send the guide ahead. Ghopte is the most basic night on the trek and one of the most memorable.

Day 15, Kutumsang to Chisapani. It covers sixteen kilometres and three ridge saddles, with about 1,300 m of ascent and 1,600 m of descent, at the end of two weeks of walking. It is rarely described because it reaches only 2,200 m and there is no named mountain. Even so, most people remember it as the longest day.

Coverage is good as far as Kyanjin Gompa, which is one of the better connected valleys in Nepal, then there is no useful signal between Laurebina Yak and Tharepati. Helambu has coverage again, and Chisapani receives a signal from the Kathmandu valley. We recommend buying an Ncell or NTC SIM card in Kathmandu on day 2.

The 122 km drive takes seven to eight hours, on a road with more hairpin bends than straight sections and a few kilometres of unsealed landslide ground before Dhunche in every season. It is the least comfortable part of the trip. A private jeep instead of the tourist bus costs $110 and is good value. There is only one drive on this trek rather than two, because you walk out at the other end.

The flood of 26 August 2026 came down the Bhote Koshi from the border, north of where you trek, and it did severe damage at Timure and Rasuwagadhi and along the Trishuli below. The trekking route up the Langtang Khola and over to Gosainkunda is a different drainage. Road access changes week by week while repairs go on, and we tell you the position for your dates before you pay anything.

You need three permits: the Langtang National Park entry permit at NPR 3,000, a TIMS card at NPR 2,000, and the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park permit at NPR 1,000, because you walk out through that park to Sundarijal. All three are included and we arrange them. No restricted area permit is needed on this route.

The difference comes from five extra days of guide, porters, lodges and food, a third permit and a second major climb. That accounts for most of the $400 difference. Staff rates do not change: our Langtang guide and porter rates are the same on every trek in this region, and transport costs less on this trek because there is only one drive.

Carry $200 to $300 in rupees, in small notes. There is a cash machine at Dhunche, but you should not rely on it. No lodge above Thulo Syabru accepts cards. Prices at Gosainkunda are the highest on the route because everything is carried up from Sing Gompa, and Helambu is the least expensive trekking area we offer.

October and early November are best, followed by late March and April. October has the most reliable pass conditions and the clearest air. April has slightly more haze, but brings rhododendron in the lower gorge and warmer nights in Helambu. May is possible, but cloud builds by mid-afternoon. December suits travellers who want to see the lakes frozen and accept that they may have to turn back.

Ten days ahead is comfortable, and bookings five days ahead have been possible. There are no flights to arrange. The limits are the TIMS card, which must be issued through us and takes one working day, and lodge space at Gosainkunda and Ghopte in late October, where there are few beds and we prefer to book in advance.

Yes, and some travellers prefer it: you start walking at Sundarijal, climb the Helambu ridges, cross the pass westwards and finish in the Langtang valley, with a drive back to Kathmandu. It gives more gradual acclimatisation and leaves the best scenery for the end. However, the pass comes on day 8 rather than day 13, leaving less margin if the weather changes.