Kasol Travel Guide: The Parvati Valley, Treks and Planning

Kasol is a base more than a sight. The village stretches along the banks of the Parvati river, and most of what draws visitors lies in the valley around it: a pilgrimage town with hot springs, a remote village, a high-altitude trek and a national park. Ask your driver or guesthouse for the current road times between the places below.

Kasol village

Himachal Tourism describes Kasol as a popular hub for domestic and foreign tourists, stretching along the Parvati river. It was once a quiet village and is now split by a bridge into an old and a new township, with a growing number of guesthouses, camps and hotels built for the visitors the valley attracts. Buses run to Kasol regularly and taxis are easy to hire.

Manikaran

Manikaran stands on the bank of the Parvati river at about 1,829 metres, and is famous for its hot springs. Himachal Tourism says it has a gurdwara built in honour of Guru Nanak, who is said to have visited with five disciples, and that a hot sulphur spring in its compound is considered therapeutic. The Kullu district site adds that the springs are hot enough to cook rice tied in a cloth, and that Hindu and Sikh pilgrims both favour the town. It is 40 to 45 km from Kullu, depending on which official page you read.

Malana

Malana is an old Himalayan village at about 2,650 metres, deep in the Parvati valley. Himachal Tourism says it was a self-governing society for centuries, that the villagers worship the local deity Jamlu Devta, and that his laws, enforced through oracles, still govern the village's institutions. A road now reaches it from Jari, where it branches off the Bhuntar to Manikaran road, and trekkers can walk in over the Chanderkhani Pass. Go as a guest in a village that keeps its own customs, and follow your guide's advice about where to go and what to photograph.

Kheerganga and Khirganga National Park

Kheerganga, or Khirganga, lies in Khirganga National Park, an area of 710 sq km of the Parvati river's catchment that was notified as a national park in 2010 and adjoins the Great Himalayan National Park. Incredible India calls the trek to the hot springs of Khirganga the most popular trek in the park, through dense forest, rocky ground and alpine meadows, with the monal pheasant, Himalayan brown bear and snow leopard among the animals that live there. Ask a registered guide for the current trek length and grading, and read the trekking advice under Tips below before you set out.

Great Himalayan National Park

The Great Himalayan National Park, which Himachal Tourism says was declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in June 2014, is enclosed by the Greater Himalaya on three sides. The Parvati and Tirthan rivers rise inside it, and there are no roads or paved trails in it, so it is a place for trekkers and campers. Its wildlife includes the Himalayan thar, Himalayan brown bear, snow leopard and blue sheep, and Himachal Tourism lists eco-zone trails and treks into the park that last from five to nine days.

No official page rates the months for Kasol itself, so use the Kullu district's seasons as a guide. The district site gives summer as April to July, the rainy season as August and September and winter as October to March. December to February is very chilly with heavy frost, snowfall generally comes in December and January, and an early fall may come in November. Himachal Tourism's safety advice names July and August as the months of slippery roads, landslides and rockfalls, so allow extra time on the road in the rains.

For clothing, Himachal Tourism advises cotton in summer, light woollens in spring and autumn and heavy woollens in winter. If you are in the valley in October, the week-long Kullu Dussehra, in which village deities are carried in palanquins, is held in Kullu town.

Register your trek. Himachal's Tourism Department runs an online trekking registration system, at trekking.hp.gov.in, so that trekkers tell the authorities their plan in advance. Its safety advice says to inform the local authorities, such as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, the police or the tourism office, before any long or high-altitude trek, to hire only registered guides and porters from registered agencies, and to use only authorised, licensed operators for adventure activities.

The Parvati is a fast river. Himachal Tourism warns against standing at the edge of a cliff or on a boulder by a river bank for a photograph, because the currents in the state's rivers are strong and deceptive. It also advises against night driving in the hills, asks visitors to bring back their non-biodegradable waste and not to wash clothes in springs or streams, and recommends travel insurance.