Stuart is an award-winning travel journalist and guidebook author who has been visiting and trekking in Nepal for over thirty years. One of the world's leading authorities on Nepal trekking, he is the author of Lonely Planet’s Trekking in Nepal, the Rough Guide to Nepal, the Tibet chapter of the Rough Guide to China and the Bradt guide to Kashmir & Ladakh. He is also regularly published in The Independent, BBC, Time Out, The Telegraph, among many other UK and international publications.
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Trek duration: nine to 11 days
- Max. elevation: 3,480m
- Accommodation: Camping
- Start/end point: Jumla
The focus on the trek to Rara Lake isn’t so much on the high mountains (though these are always the backdrop), but rather on unhurried village life and the variety of ethnic groups found along the way. The thick forests that surround the lake provide a home to musk deer, black bears and other wildlife. The area around the lake is a national park with few signs of human habitation and there are some delightful wild camping spots. This is a genuine wilderness trek.
Rara Lake Trek
15 daysFrom $2,400At a glance
Destinations
Far West Nepal
Activity
Adventure, Backpacking, Hiking & Trekking, Active, Walking, Camping, Nature & WildlifePhysical Level
ModerateDuration
9 daysRelated Guides
Trekking in Nepal
I clearly remember the day, thirty years ago, when walking down the street during my first visit to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, I looked up at the clouds towering above the northern end of the city and it suddenly hit me that they weren’t clouds at all but were the snow-capped peaks of the mighty Himalaya. A week later, and after three long days of walking, I stood within a giant amphitheatre of rock and ice, totally enveloped by those same mountains.
Trekking in Far Western Nepal
In terms of development, this part of Nepal comes at the bottom of almost every list, but for adventure, trekking in Far Western Nepal is near the top of the class. This is a landscape of deep, dank forests, sparkling sheets of water, lonely ice and snow-covered mountains, narrow canyons and ancient villages.