Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek

Poon Hill is rated as one of Nepal's easier multi-day treks. Healthy adults who exercise regularly will find it manageable. The trek includes a demanding climb from Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani, gaining roughly 1,330m in elevation over 5-6 hours. The stone staircase leading to Ulleri is particularly steep for the first 90 minutes, but the gradient eases afterward. Although the trail is well-maintained, trekking poles can alleviate knee strain on descents. Expect heavy traffic at peak seasons, particularly on the way to Poon Hill for sunrise.

Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP), NPR 3,000 (approximately USD 22) for foreigners and NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals, is mandatory for the entire route and obtainable in Pokhara or Kathmandu.

TIMS Card (Trekkers' Information Management System), NPR 1,000 (approximately USD 7) per person when trekking with a registered agency, required for all trekkers in the Annapurna region.

Poon Hill is among the safest Annapurna routes concerning altitude-related issues. The maximum altitude of 3,210m is a day hike from an overnight elevation of 2,874m, helping reduce risk. Ascending slowly aids acclimatisation, though individuals may experience mild symptoms from rapid altitude gain. The route does not typically require altitude medication for healthy trekkers.

Ghorepani offers quality teahouses, including hot showers and comfortable rooms. Food ranges from dal bhat to pizza, while simpler accommodations are available in Tadapani and Ghandruk. Budgeting NPR 1,500-2,500 per day for meals and extras is advisable, with cash required for purchases since there are no ATMs along the trek.

The trek starts and finishes in Pokhara, so you need to be in Pokhara the night before day one. Most trekkers arrive from Kathmandu either by tourist bus along the Prithvi Highway, which takes 7 to 8 hours, or on the 25 minute flight into Pokhara.

On day one we drive roughly 1 hour from Pokhara to Nayapool, the road head for the Annapurna Conservation Area. Permits are checked at Birethanti a short walk further on, and the walking starts from there. On the final day a jeep collects you at Ghandruk for the 3 hour drive back to Pokhara along the Baglung highway.

Both transfers are part of the package, so you do not need to arrange jeeps or find the bus park yourself.

Since April 2023, foreign trekkers have not been permitted to walk the Annapurna region alone. A licensed guide booked through a registered trekking agency is required, and the TIMS card is issued through that agency rather than to individuals. This applies on the Ghorepani Poon Hill route exactly as it does elsewhere in the Annapurna Conservation Area.

In practice the guided trek is the only lawful way for a foreign visitor to walk this route, and once permits, transfers and tea house rates are counted together it usually works out cheaper than piecing it together alone.

6K Nepal Treks operates under Government Trekking Guide Licence No. 1497 and issues your ACAP and TIMS through the agency, so the paperwork is handled before you arrive at the checkpoint.

There are no ATMs anywhere on the Poon Hill route. The last reliable cash machines are in Pokhara, so draw what you need before you leave. Tea houses and trailside shops take Nepali rupees in cash only.

Your package covers accommodation, meals and permits, so trail spending is limited to extras. Budget roughly NPR 1,500 to 2,500 per day if you want bottled or boiled water, hot showers, device charging, snacks, beer and wifi. Prices rise with altitude, because everything above Nayapool is carried or muled in.

Tipping is customary rather than compulsory. Most groups hand the guide, and any porter, a shared tip at the end of the trek.

Ncell and Nepal Telecom both cover most of this route, and signal is usually good at Ghorepani and Ghandruk. A local SIM bought in Pokhara or at the airport is the cheapest way to stay reachable. Tea houses sell wifi access, though it slows noticeably once the dining room fills up in the evening.

Charging is available in tea house dining rooms for a small per device fee, typically NPR 100 to 300 a session. Carry a power bank so you are not dependent on it, particularly for the pre-dawn Poon Hill climb when you need a working headlamp.

Do not drink untreated tap water. Boiled water is sold at every tea house, and a filter bottle or purification tablets will cut both your costs and the plastic left behind on the trail.

Travel insurance is not included on any tier and we ask every trekker to arrive holding a policy. Check that it covers trekking to at least 4,000m, which comfortably clears the 3,210m high point at Poon Hill, and that it includes helicopter evacuation and repatriation.

Poon Hill is one of the more forgiving routes in Nepal if something goes wrong. The trail is never more than a day's walk from a road head, and Pokhara, where the nearest hospitals are, is around 3 hours by jeep from Ghandruk.

Your guide carries a first aid kit, checks the group daily, and can call an evacuation if it is ever needed. Rescue costs are billed to your insurer, which is why the policy matters.

The route runs through Magar and Gurung country. Ulleri and Ghorepani are largely Magar villages, while Ghandruk is the largest Gurung settlement in Nepal and has a small Annapurna Conservation Area museum worth half an hour of your afternoon. In most cases the household you meet also runs the tea house you sleep in.

A few habits make a real difference. Ask before photographing people or the inside of homes, step to the uphill side when you meet a mule train, and carry your rubbish out rather than leaving it with villages that have no collection. Refilling a bottle with boiled or filtered water instead of buying plastic is the single biggest reduction you can make here.

The ACAP fee funds conservation and community projects inside the area, which is part of why the permit is not optional.

March to May is the spring window. The rhododendron forest between Ulleri and Ghorepani is in full bloom through late March and April, days are mild, and afternoon haze builds as the season warms. October and November are the autumn window, with the clearest and most stable skies of the year and cold but very sharp mornings on Poon Hill.

December to February is quiet and genuinely cold at Ghorepani, with occasional snow on the ridge. Visibility can be superb and you will share the sunrise with far fewer people. June to September is the monsoon: the trail is green and empty, but cloud usually hides the mountains and leeches are active in the forest sections.

Whatever month you pick, the sunrise depends on the weather on the day. Leaving a spare day in your Pokhara plans gives you a second attempt if the first morning is clouded in.