Babusar Pass Motorcycle Tour

The Kaghan Valley offers motorcycle riders something that the KKH's dramatic gorges cannot: verdant, forest-lined riding through alpine meadows that become progressively more spectacular as the valley narrows toward Babusar Pass at 4,173 m. From Balakot (990 m) at the valley entrance, the road follows the Kunhar River for 160 km, climbing through pine forests to the resort town of Naran (2,409 m) before the tarmac gives way to rough jeep track for the final push to the pass summit. The variety of terrain — open highway, forested switchbacks, rocky alpine trail — makes this one of Pakistan's most technically engaging motorcycle routes.

The Kaghan Valley's cultural fabric is predominantly Gujjar and Awan, with semi-nomadic Gujjar herders bringing their water buffalo herds up the valley each summer and returning to the Punjab plains in October. Their temporary settlements — rough wood-and-thatch structures on the hillsides — add a living pastoral dimension to the landscape. The valley's lower reaches are famous in Pakistani domestic tourism for their waterfalls, particularly those near Shogran (2,362 m), a forested plateau with views of the Makra Peak (3,878 m) massif. Lake Saiful Muluk (3,224 m), one of Pakistan's most photographed lakes, is a short jeep ride above Naran.

Our motorcycle tour approaches Babusar from the south (Islamabad direction) and either returns the same way or crosses to the Gilgit-Baltistan side for a more ambitious circuit, descending to Chilas on the KKH. The return journey offers an entirely different perspective, riding down the northern face of the pass through a landscape that is drier and more Himalayan in character than the lush KP side.