Dhorpatan Trek

Trip Overview

Dhorpatan trek is an off-the-beaten path which isn’t too challenging and it is a village of Baglung District, positioned in a large east-west valley south of the Dhaulagiri mountain range of Himalayas. There is a small village of indigenous Kham Magar people as well as Tibetan refugees. Trekkers don’t need to be super-fit or qualified to enjoy this area, but a sense of adventure is necessary as much of the food and accommodation is basic.

The enclosing valley is drained to the west by the Uttar Ganga, an arm of the Bheri River, which in turn joins the Karnali River. The east-west direction of Dhorpatan Valley offers a notably Himalayan standard and the easy route between the Karnali basin of western Nepal and the Gandaki River basin in the center, over a relatively low pass on the watershed about a day’s walk east of the town. This was a historic migration route for Khas people eastward in the late middle ages.

Dhorpatan trekking can be reached from Baglung via Burtibang by bus or jeep, and by jeep from Beni via Myagdi Khola. There are only some homestay and lodges serving basic food, tea, coffee, and milk. Cottages are accessible for hunters holding entry and hunting permits. In the summer months, outsized herds of livestock are taken northwards from the Rapti zone by Kham Magar people for grazing in nearby pastureland. Here, animal husbandry, handicrafts, and some tourism are the key economic activities of the people in this region.
March to May and September to November is the best season for Dhorpatan to visit and is best visited in the peak trekking seasons in Nepal.