By road
~500 km from Delhi
North India · Himachal Pradesh
Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh
Trout streams at the Great Himalayan NP gate · ~500 km from Delhi
Getting there
By rail
Joginder Nagar, ~160 km, narrow-gauge; Chandigarh (~270-310 km) is the nearest broad-gauge station
By air
Bhuntar (Kullu-Manali) Airport, ~48-50 km
Best time to visit
March to June and September to November; fishing season April-October
Don't miss
Great Himalayan National Park (UNESCO)
Serolsar Lake via Jalori
Chehni Kothi tower
Things to do
Trout fishing
GHNP eco-zone treks
Riverside hammock days
Jalori Pass drive
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Samir Azad · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Waterproof boots, layers, licenses for angling
A quieter corner
The riverside waterfall walk from Gushaini to the GHNP gate
About Tirthan Valley
- Mountains
- Riverside
Where it is
The Tirthan Valley lies in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, along the Tirthan river as it flows down from the Great Himalayan National Park, south of the Kullu valley and below the Jalori Pass.
History
The Tirthan river rises within the Great Himalayan National Park, and the valley's villages, with their wooden temples and tower houses, have kept a traditional Himalayan way of life. The park was created in 1984 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, and the valley has since grown as a base for trekking and angling.
People
The valley's villagers speak Pahari dialects of the Kullu region, grow apples and vegetables on terraced fields and increasingly run homestays. Their houses and temples are built in the kath-kuni style of alternating timber and stone.
Known for
- The Great Himalayan National Park
- Trout fishing on the Tirthan
- Jalori Pass and Serolsar Lake
- Chehni Kothi, a tower temple
- Riverside homestays
Did you know?
The Great Himalayan National Park at the head of the valley shelters the western tragopan, a rare pheasant that is the state bird of Himachal Pradesh.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.