Dodital trek & Darba Top
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* Cover photo: Bonfire under starry night skies at Darba Top(one day ahead of Dodital). Mt Bandarpunch in the background. Copyright: My Himalayan Adventure How difficult is this trek? An experienced trekker will do this quite easily, a first time trekker will not find it very difficult but will get a little tired while trekking. The trek distances are on the longer side(9-12 km a day), but the trek route till Dodital is quite gradual and the trail is well marked. The trail between Dodital and Darba top is steep though. This trek can be done by anyone with a decent fitness level. Getting into a fitness routine in the days leading up to the trek should be suffiicient and a healthy lifestyle is something we anyways recommend. We will be happy to consult you on a good preparation routine.
Is it suitable for children and/or families? Yes. The youngest child to do this trek with us was 4 years of age then. But there are certain modifications to the itinerary along with certain additional logistical support that we recommend for small children. Is it a good option for first time trekkers and/or families? Yes, we can recommend this as a first Himalayan trek for those who have little or no prior experience. The trail is well marked and does not have tricky patches. A well planned itinerary for you will also mean it isn't too tiring and you spend more time enjoying the place, but getting into a fitness routine is definitely advised for this trek No of Days? We recommend 6 days Ex Dehradun. Can be done in 5 days as well and extended to 7 days. There are alternate route options. You have options of starting and ending at different places, do a popular route or an unknown route where you won't find any trekkers, or a route that is quite chilled out |
Located in the heart of the Garhwal Himalayas, the Dodital and Darba top trek offers some of the most ​rapidly changing landscape among any Himalayan treks!
The cover photo in full, Catching the sunset at camp on Darba top trek with a bonfire to light up our conversations. Mt Bandarpunch forms the backdrop
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Photograph clicked from the same place during day time, with Mt Bandarpunch in the background
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Fixed departure dates, price & Offers:
Upcoming fixed departure dates:
Our fixed departures are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we hope to resume soon. Please get in touch if you would like a customized departure
Prices start at ₹ 11,900 all inclusive with premium trek facilities customized for beginners
Want your own dates? Have specific customization requests? Do speak to us for a personalized experience.
Our fixed departures are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we hope to resume soon. Please get in touch if you would like a customized departure
Prices start at ₹ 11,900 all inclusive with premium trek facilities customized for beginners
Want your own dates? Have specific customization requests? Do speak to us for a personalized experience.
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Region: Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand
Maximum height during the trek: Approx 12,000 ft Distance you need to travel by road in mountain roads: Around 150 km one way Price range for a fixed departure/custom group with 4+ people: Trek cost is in the range of Rs 1500 per person per day with budget facilities, around 2,200-2500 per person per day with premium facilities recommended by us-typically more enjoyable. Happy to give you advice on what is likely to be more suitable and enjoyable for you. Features of this trek: Rural village life, dense forests largely comprising pine and oak trees, Rhododendron flowers if done in March and April, an alpine lake, meadows, close up view of Mt Bandarpunch(20,800 ft), trekking for 4-5 hours a day, camping in moderate-cold temperatures What we like about this trek: Recommended for fit beginners or experienced trekkers who want to take it easy. Recommended also if you want to be very close to prominent snow mountains and/or want to experience numerous facets of the Himalayas including its villages, its forests, lakes as well as meadows What we don't like so much: While you get a close up of snow peaks, you see it only on the third day of the trek. While the trek is gradual, trek distances are on the longer side. View our upcoming fixed departures this season, click here Need our advice or help with a customization? call us or drop us a message in the chat box below and we'll get back to you right away. |
Dodital and its surrounding forests, we can also see the Assi Ganga in the pic. This is a tributary to the Bhagirathi river and starts from Dodital
Panoramic shot of the sunrise at Dodital. There is a small temple here as you can see in the left of the pic (Click the photo to enlarge. If you are viewing this on your phone then it will look better in landscape mode)
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Our thoughts in brief:
The trek starts with rural villages bustling with activity as local kids and villagers welcome you with their warm greetings. It then goes onto a river side camp, very thick alpine woods, a mythical lake in the middle of it and finally a camp at 13,000 ft. on green grass lands atop a meadow looking 20,000 ft. snow mountains straight in the eye Dodital has become a popular trek in recent times owing to its beauty, ease of access and moderate difficulty. It can be easily undertaken by a first timer and gives you a great feel of everything a trekker can ask for- ranging from the forests to the meadows and finally the snows and is therefore a hot favourite trek of the My Himalayan Adventure team. We have a trek going here almost every month During the trek we reach a height of about 13,000 ft. gained over a distance of about 27 km, therefore the gradient of the trek is quite gradual. Expect the temperatures to range from chilly to quite cold there depending on the time of year you go there. Broadly the temperature will vary from 5 degrees to 0 degrees at night and expect snow if you are planning this trek between December and mid-April- an added attraction for those who wish to get a true Himalayan experience. The base for the trek is a place called Sangamchatti which is about 15 km from Uttarkashi, located at a height of about 6,000 ft. We trek about 21 km over 2-3 days via villages called Aghora, Bewda and Manjhi to reach Dodital (approx 10,000 ft.) and finally trek another 5 km to reach Darba top where we camp for a night which gives us a view of a number of prominent mountains in the Garhwal Himalayas. All in all a five and a half to six day trek from Dehradun to Dehradun or from Rishikesh to Rishikesh. Add a short 4-5 hour train journey if you are from Delhi and another 2-3 hour flight if you are from Mumbai/ Bangalore or another city and you have an experience on your hands... When combined with your weekend holidays, you need to take about 2-3 days off from your workplace for this experience. This trek is perfect if you want a taste of the Himalayas and really want to get away but can’t find too much time off... |
There are some beautiful ridge walks as you can see from the images above
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We experienced a feeling of grandness in the mountains here- even in the mountains that weren't snow clad. They felt imposing as you can see in the images above. These pics were clicked between Bewra and Majhi- second day of the Dodital trek
We managed to click a beautiful eagle soaring high while on this dodital trek
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Looking towards the Jaonli peak(6,636 mt) from Darba top
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Interested? Request a callback/email reply. Our expert advice will reach you within 2 hours. Get in touch now!
Want to read more about this trek? Continue scrolling for more pics, reviews and a typical itinerary
Want to read more about this trek? Continue scrolling for more pics, reviews and a typical itinerary
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Trekking with
My Himalayan Adventure
- Among the most experienced adventure travel providers in India with 30+ years of experience and thousands of happy trekkers. We specialize in and are known for initiating people to the Himalayas and have led numerous successful mountaineering summits to peaks over 20,000 ft. including first ascents, record breaking cycling and rafting expeditions. These were done largely for beginners.
- Some of the biggest names in Indian Adventure and education form the core of our team. We conduct all treks ourselves and have in house staff professionally trained and personally mentored over numerous years.
- We have an impeccable safety record and our legacy in outdoor adventure can be matched by very few others in India.
- Our premium and personalized treks are designed especially for beginners and those who want their first taste of the Himalayan wilderness, families & parents who want to initiate their children to the Himalayas. We also work with some of India's leading boarding schools, conducting treks and mountaineering expeditions for them.
- Our groups are kept small, our treks are carefully shortlisted, itineraries and facilities thoroughly customized keeping every individual need in mind
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Typical itinerary:
This is the indicative itinerary for the Dodital trek that most people opt for, there is another itinerary. This can be customized to change the number of days, there is a different route where you start at Sangamchatti and end at Hanuman Chatti, there is also an alternate itinerary where you start and end at the same place, but do a round route through another high altitude pass, this is a harder route though. Day 1: Arrive in Uttarkashi Uttarkashi is the most prominent town on the Rishikesh- Gangotri road on the banks of the Bhagirathi River. This is a 150 km drive from Dehradun through tiring and winding mountain terrain. Night at a hotel in Uttarkashi. Day 2: Drive to Sangamchatti(1 hour drive) Trek from Sangamchatti to Bewra (8km, 3 hr trek). Camp at Bewra. After a short drive to Sangamchatti, do a short, fairly simple trek to Bewra. Our camp will be along the stream. The trek is fairly gradual most of the way and the route is well marked. You will cross a couple of villages along the way and hence encounter plenty of local villagers adding a charm to this bit of the trek. Day 3: Trek from Bewra to Dodital (14 km, 4-5 hour trek) The trek for the day goes from Bewra to Dodital via Manjhi. Manhi will offer you the first glimpses of snow in the region. Located at about 8,000 ft. in the middle of dense forests. The trek itself will go through some very tall, dense forests full of Oak and Teak trees. Dodital is a further 5 km from Manjhi on a fairly simple trek route in the middle on pristine forests. The trek for the day is fairly simple to it can get steep at times and is a little long. Day 4: Trek from Dodital to Darba top and back to Dodital (5 km steep, 3-3.5 hour trek one way) Darba top is a steep 3-4 hr trek from Dodital, but is easily the most rewarding day of the entire trek. It takes us to the highest point in that area and the top offers great close up views of the Upper Himalayan ranges. We came here for the night at the beautiful meadows on Darba top. Day 5: Trek back from Dodital to Bewra Day 6: Trek back from Bewra to Sangamchatti, Drive back to Dehradun/ Rishikesh/Haridwar |
Crossing high passes after Darba top. You can reach here if you plan a different route from the usual- starting from Sangamchatti and ending at Hanuman chatti
A happy client poses for pics at Darba top. Hills give way to tall mountains behind him. You can see the Jaonli range, Gangotri range from here to name a few
The route to Dodital, the trek is well marked and mostly gradual. This is the trail betwen Majhi and Dodital
Trail between Bewra and Manjhi lined with some beautiful trees during the Dodital trek
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Excerpts from the 5 most recent reviews of this trek from our previous trekkers, click here for all the reviews
Mahesh Paradkar and his wife: Vijaya, son: Parth and daughter: Abha
(A) Your rating of the Dayara Bugyal trek and the experience: Out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek?
what we liked
The location - Dodital - the nature, mountain views, floura and faunna, great walks, streams and the river - assi ganga and luckily great climate too
The booking experience with Tapas was outstanding.. He helped us with information, tips and guidance right from the day we talked first to the last day we spent in Dehradoon.
The service - Satya and his team- Rajesh, Ashik, Hukum Singh the cook and all others were excellent and provided all the services without a frown or hesitation- throughout the trek... especially, outstanding support to children on the trek.
The food - great taste and variety despite the limited resources / accessibility.
(C) As a first timer trekking in Himalayas how did you feel about the trek?
My 9 year daughter was the first timer and she enjoyed every minute of the trek- she walked well, ate well and slept well.
This was my first experience of taking the entire family along on a "moderate" trek...
There was nothing we did not like... some of us had a bit of headache/digestion problems which are quite usual with altitude and the change of water.
(D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek?
Have fun... this is a great trek
Rita Kothari
(A) Your rating of the Dayara Bugyal trek and the experience: Out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek?
Loved the group. The support staff was very good. It’s a beautiful trail all the way upto dodital. Camp sites were good.
(C) As a first timer trekking in Himalayas, how did you feel about the trek?
Not a first timer. But a good simple trek. Just right with kids.
(D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek?
Have fun!! It’s a great trek for starters!!! Enjoy the campsites!!
* Rita and Nishad's son Agastya reached Dodital at age 3. A big congratulations to him
Kinjal Pandit
A) How would you rate the Dayara Bugyal trek and experience: Stars out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
6 Stars
(Not a typo)
B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek
My wife and me have been trekking for the past 15 years now. But this time was special. We wanted to introduce our 5 yo daughter to the Himalayas and we also had two more families with kids. So the itinerary had to be super custom made to fit our requirement. And all I can say is "My Himalayan Adventure" did not disappoint. The attention to detail was fantastic and most importantly the staff was like family. Satya (the partner) himself trekked with us to ensure all went well, which was really reassuring. All in all, two thumbs up to the team, and we hope to trek with MHA again.
PS: I guess the video will sum it all up.
https://youtu.be/ZqwA8ewBo4I
C) As a first timer trekking in the Himalayas, how did you feel about the trek?
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D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek
It's a perfect trek for absolute beginners to get introduced the Himalayas. Especially with My Himalayan Adventure.
Shruti Rao
(A) Rating of the Dayara Bugyal trek and the experience: Out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek:
I loved the Darba top, the semi- frozen lake, hospitable guides and hosts - Tapas and Uncle being so inspiring, the bunch of cooks that kept sending delicious food, and our gang of trekkers providing unending topics of conversation and fun. The only hitch was the sleeping bag, which I felt could have been a little better, but it was still not bad at all.
(C) As a first timer trekking in the Himalayas how did you feel about the trek:
It was an exhilarating experience that ensured a complete cut-off from the world as we know it. 4 days of back-to-the-earth feeling, no electricity, network or any other luxury. This is what I was looking for and I was not disappointed. Since we had so much time every day after the trek, it gave us an opportunity to interact, exchange ideas and sometimes just speak relentlessly for hours with our group that hailed from different parts of the country – something small that we still miss out on our day-to-day hectic schedule. This indeed helped us understand our own brothers and sisters so much better and also taught us a lesson or two in respecting the nature.
(D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek:
Drop the luggage, leave your phone away and take the trek and be prepared to be thrilled. Though not a very difficult trek, it still requires mental and physical preparation. Plenty of warm clothes, sunscreen, a good camera, toilet paper, some chocolates, water bottle and zeal to re-live are a must!
S. Muthukumar
(A) Rating you would give to the Dayara Bugyal trek(Stars out of 5 with 5 being the highest and 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things that you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek?
I liked the fact that Tapas stuck to the schedule even though others who were supposed to join in, pulled out at the last minute.
The trek itself is beautiful, when we reached the top, a place called Darba Top, I was swept by this feeling that ‘I had arrived, this is the place to be and that there was no need to move any further!’
I was the first client of My Himalayan Adventure, but didn’t feel like it. The entire trek was organized professionally and with competence.
(C) As a first timer trekking in the Himalayas, how did you feel about the trek (if you are a first timer)?
I guess there are few sights in this world which would compare to the Himalayas; but then again this has to be experienced!
(D) Any recommendations for those who are planning to undertake this trek?
The pre-trek preparation to get in shape must be done as advised
(A) Your rating of the Dayara Bugyal trek and the experience: Out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek?
what we liked
The location - Dodital - the nature, mountain views, floura and faunna, great walks, streams and the river - assi ganga and luckily great climate too
The booking experience with Tapas was outstanding.. He helped us with information, tips and guidance right from the day we talked first to the last day we spent in Dehradoon.
The service - Satya and his team- Rajesh, Ashik, Hukum Singh the cook and all others were excellent and provided all the services without a frown or hesitation- throughout the trek... especially, outstanding support to children on the trek.
The food - great taste and variety despite the limited resources / accessibility.
(C) As a first timer trekking in Himalayas how did you feel about the trek?
My 9 year daughter was the first timer and she enjoyed every minute of the trek- she walked well, ate well and slept well.
This was my first experience of taking the entire family along on a "moderate" trek...
There was nothing we did not like... some of us had a bit of headache/digestion problems which are quite usual with altitude and the change of water.
(D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek?
Have fun... this is a great trek
Rita Kothari
(A) Your rating of the Dayara Bugyal trek and the experience: Out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek?
Loved the group. The support staff was very good. It’s a beautiful trail all the way upto dodital. Camp sites were good.
(C) As a first timer trekking in Himalayas, how did you feel about the trek?
Not a first timer. But a good simple trek. Just right with kids.
(D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek?
Have fun!! It’s a great trek for starters!!! Enjoy the campsites!!
* Rita and Nishad's son Agastya reached Dodital at age 3. A big congratulations to him
Kinjal Pandit
A) How would you rate the Dayara Bugyal trek and experience: Stars out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
6 Stars
(Not a typo)
B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek
My wife and me have been trekking for the past 15 years now. But this time was special. We wanted to introduce our 5 yo daughter to the Himalayas and we also had two more families with kids. So the itinerary had to be super custom made to fit our requirement. And all I can say is "My Himalayan Adventure" did not disappoint. The attention to detail was fantastic and most importantly the staff was like family. Satya (the partner) himself trekked with us to ensure all went well, which was really reassuring. All in all, two thumbs up to the team, and we hope to trek with MHA again.
PS: I guess the video will sum it all up.
https://youtu.be/ZqwA8ewBo4I
C) As a first timer trekking in the Himalayas, how did you feel about the trek?
-
D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek
It's a perfect trek for absolute beginners to get introduced the Himalayas. Especially with My Himalayan Adventure.
Shruti Rao
(A) Rating of the Dayara Bugyal trek and the experience: Out of 5(5 being the highest, 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek:
I loved the Darba top, the semi- frozen lake, hospitable guides and hosts - Tapas and Uncle being so inspiring, the bunch of cooks that kept sending delicious food, and our gang of trekkers providing unending topics of conversation and fun. The only hitch was the sleeping bag, which I felt could have been a little better, but it was still not bad at all.
(C) As a first timer trekking in the Himalayas how did you feel about the trek:
It was an exhilarating experience that ensured a complete cut-off from the world as we know it. 4 days of back-to-the-earth feeling, no electricity, network or any other luxury. This is what I was looking for and I was not disappointed. Since we had so much time every day after the trek, it gave us an opportunity to interact, exchange ideas and sometimes just speak relentlessly for hours with our group that hailed from different parts of the country – something small that we still miss out on our day-to-day hectic schedule. This indeed helped us understand our own brothers and sisters so much better and also taught us a lesson or two in respecting the nature.
(D) Any recommendations for those planning to undertake this trek:
Drop the luggage, leave your phone away and take the trek and be prepared to be thrilled. Though not a very difficult trek, it still requires mental and physical preparation. Plenty of warm clothes, sunscreen, a good camera, toilet paper, some chocolates, water bottle and zeal to re-live are a must!
S. Muthukumar
(A) Rating you would give to the Dayara Bugyal trek(Stars out of 5 with 5 being the highest and 0 being the lowest)
5 stars
(B) Things that you loved, liked and didn’t like about the trek?
I liked the fact that Tapas stuck to the schedule even though others who were supposed to join in, pulled out at the last minute.
The trek itself is beautiful, when we reached the top, a place called Darba Top, I was swept by this feeling that ‘I had arrived, this is the place to be and that there was no need to move any further!’
I was the first client of My Himalayan Adventure, but didn’t feel like it. The entire trek was organized professionally and with competence.
(C) As a first timer trekking in the Himalayas, how did you feel about the trek (if you are a first timer)?
I guess there are few sights in this world which would compare to the Himalayas; but then again this has to be experienced!
(D) Any recommendations for those who are planning to undertake this trek?
The pre-trek preparation to get in shape must be done as advised
