BALTISTANGILGIT-BALTISTAN· 35.30°N 75.63°E
Skardu
Cold desert, mirror lakes and the road to the Karakoram giants — the launch point for Baltistan's wildest country.
Overview
Skardu sits in a broad valley of the Indus in Baltistan, ringed by bare mountains and famous for a landscape found almost nowhere else: high, cold sand deserts beneath snow peaks, and calm blue-green lakes a short drive from town. It is the great staging post of the Karakoram — the base for expeditions toward K2 and the other 8,000-metre giants — yet gentle enough for families around its lakes.
From Skardu, day-trips reach the Shangrila and Kachura lakes, the Katpana cold desert, old forts, and the vast high plateau of Deosai. It can be reached by road from the Karakoram Highway or by a short, scenic flight from Islamabad.
Suited for
- Adventure
- Families
- Lakes & desert
- Trekking base
Good to know
- Best time to visit
- April–October (Deosai opens in summer)
- Suggested duration
- 3–5 days
- Getting there
- By road from the KKH at Jaglot, or by air from Islamabad
- Altitude
- ≈ 2,228 m (approx.)
Popular places to explore
The most beautiful and worthwhile places in and around Skardu.
Shangrila & Lower Kachura Lake
A calm blue-green lake and the famous red-roofed resort, minutes from Skardu.
Shangrila, on the shore of Lower Kachura Lake a short drive from Skardu, is one of Baltistan's best-loved spots — a calm, blue-green lake ringed by poplars and low hills, with the famous red-roofed resort reflected in the water. Rowing boats drift across the surface and the setting is gentle enough for families and couples. A short walk or drive away lies the deeper, quieter Upper Kachura Lake. Together they make an easy half-day from Skardu town and a peaceful contrast to the raw desert and high peaks that surround the region.
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Katpana Cold Desert
Pale dunes beneath snow peaks — one of the highest deserts on earth.
The Katpana Desert — also known as the Cold Desert — is a stretch of pale sand dunes on the outskirts of Skardu, among the highest deserts in the world at over 2,000 metres. Snow-capped Karakoram peaks rise directly behind the dunes, and in winter the sand is often dusted with snow, a surreal meeting of desert and glacier. The dunes are a striking place for photography at dawn and dusk, when long shadows rake across the sand. It is an unusual, uniquely Baltistan landscape, only a short drive from Skardu's bazaar and the Indus River.
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Nearby excursionDeosai National Park
The 'Land of the Giants' — a vast summer plateau of wildflowers and clear lakes.
Deosai National Park, the 'Land of the Giants', is a vast high plateau south of Skardu — one of the highest plains on earth at around 4,000 metres. In summer, after the snow melts, the rolling grasslands burst with wildflowers and are crossed by clear streams and the deep-blue Sheosar Lake. Deosai is a protected home of the Himalayan brown bear and is usually reached by jeep from Skardu (or from Astore). The plateau is only open for a few months in summer; the rest of the year it lies under deep snow, so warm layers are wise even in July.
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