Shandur Pass Road Trip

The road from Chitral to Gilgit via Shandur Pass is considered by many to be the most beautiful mountain drive in Pakistan — an assertion that carries enormous weight in a country whose mountain roads include the KKH, the Babusar, and the Lowari. What distinguishes Shandur is its colour: unlike the brown gorges and grey glaciers dominant elsewhere, the plateau approach from both sides is intensely, almost improbably green. Rolling meadows, fed by snowmelt and summer rains, carpet the highlands around the 3,734 m pass, and in July the surrounding hills are dotted with the yurt-like shelters of Wakhi herders who bring their livestock to these summer pastures.

The Ghizer Valley approach from Gilgit is equally spectacular. The Ghizer River — a major tributary of the Gilgit River — cuts a broad valley 150 km long through pine forests and willow-lined flats. Phander Lake (2,900 m) near the valley's head is one of Gilgit-Baltistan's most beautiful lakes: a 5 km stretch of deep-green water fed by glacial streams, with the Phander Glacier visible at its head and snow peaks rising behind. The villages along the Ghizer are predominantly Ismaili, with a reputation for exceptional hospitality.

Our tour runs Gilgit to Chitral (or the reverse), allowing you to experience the full 250 km journey in stages. Nights in Phander and at the pass itself (in a basic rest house or camp) provide authentic remoteness, while day drives through the Laspur Valley below Shandur's western slopes reveal a dramatically different landscape of watchtowers, ancient apricot orchards, and traditional stone farmhouses.