Nag Tibba has been a winter favorite in the trekking community for quite some time now. There are various reasons for this. Proximity to Delhi is one of them. An overnight journey to Dehradun and an additional drive of 3-4 hours (80 kms) brings you to Pantwari, the base village of Nag Tibba trek. Popular perception is that Nag Tibba is a 2 day trek. We don’t deny that at all but we still hold a slightly different take on the matter. If you are in a rush, the trek can easily be done in 2 days, no doubt. BUT if you are not pressed for time and can invest an additional day in this journey, we guarantee that the returns will outweigh the investment by a fat margin.
Allow us to elaborate.
Here’s the most popular itinerary followed by most of us:
Day 1: Reach Dehradun in the morning, take a cab to Pantwari. Once there, drive on the motorable dirt road for 3kms to the trailhead. The first camping site is just an hour (or lesser for those who sprint on trekking trails!) away from here. You camp just before the forest area - the entire terrain is mostly barren.
Trek for the day finishes even before it starts (without great views). Even if you give the 3 km drive a miss and start trekking from Pantwari, the trail is still pretty featureless and the views mostly missing.
Day 2: Start early to trek up to the summit of Nag Tibba. It is mostly an uphill climb. Views start to open up only in the last one hour of the trek before the summit. You reach the summit by noon. If you have to reach back to Dehradun the same day, you can spend a maximum of an hour on the top. Reach back to Pantwari by sundown and then catch a cab to Dehradun.
Not only the time you get to spend on the top is limited but also, reaching the summit in the afternoon is not the best if you are here for grand views including the full face of Nanda Devi. The afternoon light turns everything hazy.
(If you plan to do Nag Tibba on your own, here (link the Nag Tibba Do it yourself guide) is all the information you need.)
Now, let us tell you about the alternative itinerary which is lesser known but more rewarding.
Day 1 – Start from Dehradun by around 5:00 AM – the last Volvo from Delhi reaches Dehradun at around the same time. Accounting for an hour’s break for breakfast, you should be at the end of the dirt road by 10:30 AM. The trail to the Nag Mandir campsite stretches over 5.5 kms and will take approximately 4-5 hours to cover. It begins with 2kms of an uphill trudge on a cemented path that goes through the village market. Soon this path gives way to a rocky uneven trail.
All along, one can enjoy the mesmerising views of layered mountains, the small village of Pantwari lying down in the valley below & patches of farmlands on the way.
The next 1-1.5kms is a dry and narrow shepherd’s trail with gradual ascents and descents. After this the trail nosedives into a dense canopy of Oak and Rhododendron forests which allow only a little sunlight in. The red and pink flowers of rhododendrons don’t bloom in the winters.
The path inside the forest is snow-laden in some sections. After trekking for 1 km, the forest finally opens up to a small patch of land. A structure of a temple sits at the heart of this clearing. This is the famous Nag Mandir, campsite for Day 1.
The campsite offers panoramic views of a snow-covered Himalayan range at the horizon.
The sunsets and starlit night skies are lovely at this campsite. The temperatures can dip down to -7 degrees in the winters.
Day 2: Start early today and carry a packed lunch so you can spend more time on the summit. Beyond the Nag Mandir base, the trail climbs steeply uphill making the stretch a demanding one to navigate, especially with the snow. Since this stretch is thickly forested and barely gets any sunlight, the snow does not melt easily even during day time.
Usually, the snow is soft, granular in texture and ankle deep requiring you to pull through at every step. During extremely cold days, the snow can even be knee deep.
Eventually, the trail turns through a ridge and the views finally start to open up towards the summit.
The Nag Tibba summit throws itself open to expansive views. It is one of those rare treks that allow a 180-270 degree summit view of the snow-clad Garhwal ranges on the second day itself. You can see Nanda Devi, Bandar-poonch, Swargarohini and many more peaks of Higher Himalayas from here. There’s no rush to turn your back on this view and head back. Spend as much time as you would like and then head back to Nag Mandir. As I mentioned earlier Nag Mandir is a camping site where nobody can feel bored.
Day 3: Now this is a surprise package. Instead of trekking back to Pantwari head to the other side of the mountain to the village of Aunter which is a road head. Start from Nag Mandir at around 9:00 AM. Today’s trek is mostly flat through the thickest of Rhododendron forests generally seen in Uttarakhand and the good part is that you are not struggling to catch a breath so you can enjoy the beauty around you. The snow covered trail through this thick forest is simply stunning. Since this trail is not often used in winter it looks fresh and clean. Once you cross the hill to the other side, the landscape changes suddenly within a distance of a few meters. One moment you were walking on the fresh and supple snow the other moment you are on a jungle trail- green and white as far as you can see. The view of the valley below is simply stunning; it can be a great site for paragliding. You definitely will not be kicking yourself for adding an additional day to your Nag Tibba itinerary. The descent to Aunter is gradual and takes about 3 hours. It is also closer by 30 kms from Dehradun compared to Pantwari, which is a whole hour saved!
In conclusion…
This is why we prefer the three day itinerary to the rushed 2-day adventure – better views, diversity of landscape and leisurely time to soak in all the magnificent beauty of this exquisite trail. We’d say, add that day to your itinerary; you will only thank yourself in the end!
This article was originally written by Pankaj Deshwal on 11-03-2015.
It was edited and updated by Neeti Singhal on 08-11-2023.
