Rupin Pass Trek: Essential Tips and Information for a Remarkable Adventure

Rupin Pass Trek is one of the well known treks of India which starts at Dhaula in Uttarakhand and ends in Sangla valley in Himachal Pradesh.

In fact, it is the most beautiful trek I have even been.

Details of Rupin Pass Trek

• Trek duration: 9 days
• Maximum altitude: 15,380 feet
• Nearest railhead: Dehradun
• Base camp: Dhaula (Tent stay)
• Difficulty level: Moderate to difficult.
• Best time: Summer-Mid May to June end.
• Autumn: Mid September- Mid October.

Rupin Pass Trek – Point of Interest

Firstly, walking for long hours on snow bridges (May-June).

Second, passing by the Hanging village of Jakha.

Third, camping at picturesque lower water fall and see Rupin river jumping off the cliff in three phases.

Furthermore, walking on the vast ice fields of Ratapheri. (Both summer and Autumn), apart from these, there is Gully climb to reach the top of Rupin pass and, walking through the Apple Orchards full of apples in Sangla Kanda.(Only in Sept& October), It only get beautiful as we walk.

Remarks: Rupin Pass trek needs a good amount of fitness and prior trekking experience in the Himalayas. Before planning for any expedition or trek it is always good to gather some important information. So, visit the Uttarakhand govt. official website.

Note: Also, the construction of road has been recently completed and now one can reach Jiskun village directly from Shimla by road. It is a 10 to 11 hours drive. Furthermore, it saves two days of trekking.

Itinerary of Rupin Pass Trek and my Experience

On 5th of October dada (my brother) and I boarded the train to Dehradun. From there, we were out on our adventure trek to Rupin Pass with India hikes. Rupin Pass trek is a high altitude pass crossing (15,380 feet) and traverses from Rupin Valley in Uttarakhand to Sangla valley in Himachal Pradesh. Furthermore, this is a 9 days trek through the remotest and uninhibited areas of the Himalayas. The base camp for this trek is Dhaula which is a remote village and an 11 hours drive by Tempo Traveller from Dehradun.

Day 01 – Dhaula Camp

We reached Dhaula camp (5100 feet) on the bank of Rupin River in the evening of 6th October after a beautiful drive through scenic mountains, deep gorges and thick forests.

Day 02 – Dhaula Camp to Sewa Village

Next morning (7th October) our team of 18 members started a strenuous and long ascent (8hours) to Sewa village(6300 feet),our next halt. At Sewa we had a home stay in one of the village houses. There is a beautiful temple (dedicated to Karna from Mahabharata) in Sewa which has excellent wood carvings and for some unknown reason it is adorned with trophies and medals.

Day 03 – Sewa Village to Jiskun

Next day, the 8th October, we trekked through a beautiful but very difficult terrain for 7 hours and reached Village Jiskun (7700 feet). On the way, we crossed numerous water falls and also crossed a bridge to enter Himachal Pradesh. Also, we witnessed rock fall from the mountains. In Jiskun too we stayed in a village house.

Day 04 – Jiskun to Udaknal Campsite

We started our trek towards Udaknal campsite (10,100 ft). The trek gradient was very difficult. Just out of Jiskun village we had to halt for 20 minutes as we had to give way to a shepherd coming down with a herd of 500 goats. In fact, it was such a cute sight to see the herd pass by.

Also, the trail up to Udaknal was beautiful as we walked through magnificent pine forest, vast valleys, numerous water falls and River Rupin by our side most of the times. So, after 8 hours trek we finally reached our destination tired and exhausted.

Day 05 – Udaknal to Lower waterfall Campsite

Next day, on 10th October, our trek to Lower waterfall campsite (11,700) was a tricky one. Anyways with God’s grace we reached safely to our destination after a rigorous 5 hour trek. Truly, this is the prettiest campsite of the Rupin pass trek.

Furthermore, it’s a vast valley with steep rocky mountains on both sides with numerous waterfalls cascading down to the valley to join river Rupin. Also, in the far end one can see the gorgeous Rupin thundering down in three stages of waterfalls– Upper, Middle and Lower and then flows quietly through the valley basin.

It was picturesque. Later, on day 5 after we reached Lower waterfall campsite it started snowing so we snuggled up in our sleeping bags and went to sleep early.

Day 06 – Acclimatization Day

11th October, just as we woke up, we were in a wonderland of snow.

It snowed through out the night. Luckily we had one clear day here so that our body could get acclimatized to the high altitude. So, we spent the day lazing around and playing Monopoly.

Day 07 – Lower waterfall to Upper waterfall

12th October, we started our trek to our next destination, the Upper waterfall. We climbed up the Rupin fall and crossed it at different places to reach Upper waterfall (13,100 feet) after 8 hours.

In fact, in the upper water fall campsite we slept early that night as we would start in the middle of the night for pass crossing the next day.

Day 08 – Final Ascent to Rupin Gully and to Rontigad

Then on 13th October (day 8) we started our trek at 3am in extreme cold condition and absolute darkness. 

In addition we had our head torches on.

Finally, we reached the top of the Rupin gully at 9.30am and reached Rontigad campsite around 3pm. So, that was a long 12 hours trek.

Day 09 – Sangla Town

On 14th October (day 9) we started walking down at 9am and reached Sangla town at 5pm. In fact, we were little slow as dada and I developed blisters in our toes. But at Sangla we had chicken and rice at a home stay restaurant. And within an hour we sat in a Sumo car to reach Kalka station. So, in 8 hours we reached Kalka and waited for 2.30 hours for Janshatabdi Express. Finally, we reached home on 15th October at around 11.30am and realized we were on the go for more than 26 hours.

Other Articles

• Dayara Bugyal Trek Experience
• Shrikhand Mahadev

Important Information

Here, on the Uttarakhand Tourism official website you will find more information about Uttarakhand and the related treks – https://uttarakhandtourism.gov.in/

Next, for trekking and camping guidelines by Uttarakhand Government, click this link – Read More.

So, you want to know more about Uttarakhand Govt. Guidelines for Expedition ?

• Do’s and Don’t
• List of Open Peaks in Uttarakhand
• Guidelines for Regulation of Local Tour Operators Providing Services to Mountaineering Expeditions
• Phone & Fax no. of concerned District Magistrates & Divisional Forest Officers

Click here