Delhi to Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh | Travel Guide

Destination Point:

Tirthan Valley

Situated besides the Tirthan River in Himachal Pradesh at an altitude of 1600 meters, Tirthan Valley is a gateway to the Great Himalayan National Park. A place where you can easily forget the world to relax and have loads of nature walks following one trail or the other, into the woods or  besides the river. You can amazingly feel the nature in pure bliss here. If nature walks are the thing you like or even Trout Fishing then just head Tirthan. There are a lot of treks ranging from 4-15 days even which an avid trekker can explore and reach as high as 4000 meters approximately. In all it’s an ideal place for camping, bonfires, playing music, getting together to know each other (helpful in team or relation building ), eating out, lazing etc. etc. and the list goes on to make it complete holiday destination.

Location:

Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh besides Tirthan River.

Altitude:

1600 Meters or 5300 Feet (approximately)

Climate:

Climate is nice and pleasant with temperature in summers being less than 24 degree Celsius and in winters the minimum temperature may fall below freezing point. Due to the flowing river adjacent to valley you will always feel the moist of it and lots of greenery add to that nice feeling.

Season to visit:

Although it’s a very nice, quite, relaxed and pleasant place through out the year but of course during "Spring Season" it’s just amazingly beautiful. Fully loaded with apple orchards the beauty of Tirthan Valley gets ready to mesmerize any soul on earth. Do note that in winters the place gets very cold and vulnerable towards wildlife interference especially by the presence of Leopards and Bears in this area because snow at heights forces them to descend towards valley.

In snow due to less amount of food on the mountains these leopards and bears are bound to attack, so be careful while having a walk in the woods.

As per the past experiences of many people this valley will not disappoint you a bit from March to November and is considered the best time to visit if somehow you don’t get a chance in Spring season

Trout fishing season is from March to October and for that you need to take a daily license at Rs. 100 per person per fishing rod which is non-transferable.

Itinerary:

Tirthan Valley is very much possible as a 3 day long weekend trip. To get the feel of it in entirety you can always add one more day to make it 4 and relax in the lap of nature to refresh yourself inside out or add a drive to Kasol – Manikaran as well.

Night – 1: Leave from Delhi in the evening and reach Tirthan early morning

Day – 1: Early morning arrival means sound sleep and rest for 5-6 Hours. Rest around the serene and calm Tirthan River and relax for the whole day. In the evening, may be enjoy a bonfire.

Day – 2: Walk in to the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) to see nearby waterfalls. I think there are two of them at little distance to each other and enjoy the dinner alongside river before having a sound sleep.

Day – 3: Relax till noon and leave for Delhi around 12 PM to reach around 11 PM. This will give you a sound sleep and you can join the office easily next day.

Optional Day 1: Drive to Jalori Pass from where you can trek to Serloskar Lake. On the way back have a meal at Sringi Vatika and as the food preparations takes time you can always walk down the river side to have some fun. You can add this day to make it 4 day trip.

Optional Day 2: Drive to Kasol and Manikaran and either come back to Tirthan same day for night stay or stay at Kasol only if going on the penultimate day of the trip so that you can leave towards home from Kasol only. You can add this day to make it 4 day trip.

Well to be on adventurous side on Day 3 you can leave early morning to follow this route and can cover the Option Day 1 with Jalori Pass. However, Serloskar Lake will not be possible. I will always prefer this route either while coming or while leaving.

Tirthan – Banjar (6 KM) – Shoja (20 KM) – Jalori Pass (24 KM) – Khanag – Ani -  Narkanda (114 KM) – Shimla (174 KM) – Kalka – Ambala (356 KM) – Delhi (544 KM)

Route to Jalori Pass is quite steep from Shoja side as compared to the other side i.e. Ani and Khanag which adds more pleasure to this adventure drive

How to reach:

By Air: Nearest Airport is Bhunter near Kullu from Manali side.

By Train: Chandigarh is the closest major Railway Station.

By Road: Possible route(s) to Tirthan Valley from Delhi by road are

Delhi – Ambala (188 KM) – Chandigarh – Roopnagar (282 KM) – Kiratpur – Bilaspur (371 KM) – Mandi (440 KM) – Pandoh – Aut (481 KM) – Larji – Gushaini – Tirthan (511 KM)

After reaching Aut just before the Jawahar Tunnel, take the right exit. (Caution::- Route is extremely scenic from here on ) You will reach Larji T-Point from where you need to take a right to reach Sai Ropa. At Sai-Ropa, if you head straight you will reach Banjar – Shoja but for Tirthan just follow the U-Turn from there towards Gushaini-Nagni (Tirthan). It takes about 1.25 Hr to reach Tirthan from Aut.

Buses (Volvo) also run from Delhi at 6 P.M. everyday from HPTDC Office, Janapath and reaches Aut next morning around 6 AM. From Aut you can get a taxi for around Rs. 400-600 with seating capacity of 5. Aut to Tirthan is about 30 KMs. While going back you can catch the bus around 7 PM at Aut and reach Delhi next morning by 7 A.M.

An alternate but long route is,

Delhi – Ambala (188 KM) – Kalka – Shimla (370 KM) – Narkanda (430 KM) – Ani – Khanag – Jalori Pass (520 KM) – Shoja (524 KM) – Banjar (538 KM) – Tirthan (544 KM)

Road Conditions:

On the way from Delhi till Aut roads are pretty much in great shape being a highway and from Aut roads are narrow in but in good conditions. In the entire route there are one or two rough patches so that you never loose your concentration

Preferred Vehicles:

Best way is to take your car bike and hit the road as there is no such speciality required in the vehicle be it 2X2 or 4X4. You can take it as long as its engine runs .

Accommodations:

1. Sai Ropa FRH could be the good option to stay, if possible.

2. Raju Bharti’s Guest House (Phone Number: 09418149808 (01903-225008 not sure of this one if it is working or not)) which is extremely famous with tempting food as per majority of people who stay there. It is surely the best place of stay in Tirthan Valley

3. Himalayan Trout House which is expensive but a nice place to stay.

4. Riverside Resort right at the banks of the river is getting some attention now a days. Check my review at River Side Resort, Tirthan Valley | Hotel Review

5. Shringi Vatika at Ghiyagi a little away from Tirthan: It is a homestay kind budget accommodation but with great service and reputation. River is a little hike down and it is a bit away from Tirthan (about 10 odd KMs, if I am not wrong). Contact Person: Pammi +919218201598

Things to Carry:

The place is all famous for Trout Fishing. If you are a read freak you can carry books, if you like to play take a volleyball, if you play music take the instruments with you, if you like to chat just go there and open your chatterbox around a bonfire with your mates, if you like to fish take your fishing kit with you or you can get there as well etc etc… The destination is ideal for anything that makes you feel relax from the day to day life, so go and enjoy to the fullest.

Around Tirthan Valley

Great Himalayan National Park: Get the feel of a nature park by walking till the inner entrance and I feel permissions are required for the entrance on daily basis.

Waterfalls: There are two lonely waterfalls around an hour walking distance with higher one being more than 50 feet high. Both of them are very shortly separated from each other and are on the same walking trail.

Jalori Pass : Jalori Pass, at an altitude of 3120 meters, is one of the steepest passes to drive in Himachal separating Kullu valley and Shimla Valley. You need to cover almost 2500 meters in less than 25 KMs to reach the top . You can have a meal at Shringi Vatika on the way back. Well this place is covered with snow from December end till March end.

Serloskar Lake: 5 KM from Jalori pass there is one lake which you can easily prefer to visit for a small trek.

Bachelo Pass: 15 KM en-rotue Bathaad, you can also visit this lonely pass that remains well covered with snow from December to February.

Map:

Map, courtesy – http://tirthan.blogspot.com/