Pangong Lake Travel Guide: Permits, Stay and Best Time

Pangong Tso is mostly one sight seen from several places: the lake itself, the pass you cross to reach it and the shore settlements where the road ends. The list is short, and the long drive and the cold nights are part of the experience. Our two Pangong tours give it one night. For the wider region, start with our Ladakh travel guide.

The lake and its colours

The Leh district puts Pangong Tso at 14,270 feet, about 4,350 metres, and calls it one of the highest brackish-water lakes in the world: almost 5 km wide and 134 km long, with a third in India and two-thirds in China. The water changes colour through the day, which the district describes as blue, grey-green and red and Ladakh Tourism as deep blue to green and gold. Ladakh Tourism's fact box gives a depth of up to 100 metres. Despite the salt, the lake freezes completely in winter.

Chang La

The road from Leh crosses Chang La, which Ladakh Tourism calls the high pass to Pangong Lake. It gives the height as 17,688 feet in its text and 5,360 metres in its fact box, approaches it from Leh through Kharu and Sakti, and lists May to October as the open season. A shrine, the Changla Baba temple, stands at the summit. Ladakh's tourism department names Chang La among the places not to visit within 48 hours of arriving in Leh, so it is the first place where the altitude rule matters.

Durbuk, Tangtse and Lukung

After Chang La, the permit portal's route for Indian visitors runs Leh, Kharu, Changla, Durbuk, Tangtse and Lukung, on the lake. IMD's daily Ladakh report includes Tangtse, on the lake road. Incredible India's description of the lake adds that visitors may go as far as Spangmik, about 7 km along the southern shore, where the Chang-chenmo range is reflected in the water. Your permit and your camp decide where you actually stand.

Birds and wildlife

In summer the lake is a breeding ground for birds, and the Leh district lists bar-headed geese, Brahminy ducks, black-necked cranes and seagulls as commonly seen. The lake area is a notified wildlife sanctuary. The district administration and WWF ask visitors not to feed or approach wildlife, not to drive off the road, not to leave kitchen waste exposed at camps and not to geo-tag photographs of local wildlife, which can help poachers.

Man, Merak and the road on to Hanle

The permit portal lists a separate circuit for Indian visitors that runs "beyond man merag to chushul loma via tsaga la and hanle". It is its own line on the list, so ask for it by name if you want to continue past the lake. Hanle, which lies on that road, has its own place in the Ladakh guide linked above.

Ladakh Tourism's fact box gives May to September, and Chang La is open from May to October. The Leh district says the lake freezes completely in winter but does not say whether it can be visited then, so ask your operator before planning a winter trip.

We found no IMD weather series for the lakeshore. Its Leh normals for 2011–2024 give June to September nights of 9 to 15°C at 3,500 metres, and the lake is about 850 metres higher. Ladakh Tourism's fact box lists a temperature range of minus 5°C to 10°C without saying for which months. Expect the lake to be colder than Leh at the same hour, and check IMD's daily Ladakh report, which includes Tangtse. The month-by-month picture for Leh is in our best time to visit Ladakh.

• Indian citizens: no Inner Line Permit applies. You pay the environment fee, which the district says includes the green fee, a Red Cross fund and a wildlife fee, online on the Leh district's permit portal.
• Foreign nationals: a Protected Area Permit is needed for Pangong, which the portal names among its protected areas. The permit is valid only for the circuit and the entry and exit points it names, and you may be asked to leave a photocopy at each point, so carry several. Citizens of some countries and holders of diplomatic, official or journalist passports apply to the Government of India in New Delhi.
• The 48-hour rule: the Leh district says all tourists must spend at least 48 hours acclimatising before going to higher places such as Khardung La and Pangong Lake, and may visit nearby areas of Leh meanwhile. The Directorate of Tourism's advisory also names Chang La.