Khaptad National Park: entry fee, how to reach it and when to go

Khaptad is a park of moorland, steep slopes and streams¹, and a pilgrimage destination as much as a trek. This page covers the park itself: what it protects, what it costs to enter, how to reach it and when to go. The walking route is on the Khaptad trek page, and fee tables for other parks are in the permits hub.

What the park is

Khaptad National Park was established in 1984 on the advice of Khaptad Baba, and a buffer zone of 216 km2 was declared in 2006¹. It stretches over four districts, Bajhang, Bajura, Achham and Doti, covers 225 km2 and ranges in elevation from 1,400 to 3,300 m¹. The plateau sits at around 3,000 m and its high point, Sahasra Linga, at about 3,200 m⁴.

Vegetation includes chir pine and rhododendron forest, oak forest, and Himalayan fir, hemlock and oak forest¹. The park has 567 species of flora, 287 bird species, 23 mammals and 23 amphibians and reptiles¹. The mammals include the Indian leopard, Himalayan black bear, dhole and Alpine musk deer¹. Birds include the Impeyan pheasant, peregrine falcon and white-rumped vulture¹. An operator adds more than 200 species of medicinal herbs⁴.

What it is known for

Religion defines the park. Triveni, Khaptad Lake and Sahasra Linga are holy sites for Hindus, and thousands of pilgrims gather there for festivals such as Ganga Dashahara and Janai Purnima, as the Nepali-language DNPWC park page records². On that page the Khaptad Lake and Triveni area has been proposed for the Ramsar list². The same page puts the buffer zone at 216 km2 and notes that low park income makes buffer-zone programmes hard to run².

At the centre of the park is the ashram of Khaptad Baba, a hermit-sage who lived on the plateau for more than 40 years⁴. Triveni, where three streams meet, is an important Hindu pilgrimage site, and the park draws devotees from Nepal and India for the Baisakh Purnima festival each year⁴. Kedardhunga and Maithan are also within reach of the park headquarters⁴. From the high grassland plateau there are views of the Api and Saipal Himalaya⁴. Spring brings wildflowers across the plateau from March to May⁴.

Entry fee

Park entry is charged per person per entry. In October 2026 the Nepal Tourism Board park entry-fee table listed Khaptad National Park as follows, with children under 10 free³:

In October 2026 the same table allowed payment at the Tourist Service Center in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, or at the entry points³. Entrance fees must be paid to enter protected areas³. On the Silgadhi route one operator puts the entrance gate on day 3 of a 9-day itinerary, where trekkers register and pay⁵. The table also lists NPR 3,000 for foreigners at Sagarmatha National Park in October 2026³. All the park tables are collected in national park fees.

Park ticket or trekking permit

Khaptad is a national park, so the document is a park entry ticket, charged per person per entry at the fees above³. A trekking permit is a different paper: it is needed to visit restricted areas and must be obtained from the Department of Immigration in Kalikasthan, Kathmandu⁷. Neither the Board’s permit page nor the Department’s fee table lists Khaptad^7,8. The permit travels with the trekker and is shown to immigration staff or police on request⁷. Trekking in any area or along any route except the specified one is deemed a violation of law, according to the Nepal Tourism Board permit page⁷. Which routes need a TIMS card is on the TIMS card page.

Getting there

The trek into the park starts at Silgadhi, the headquarters of Doti district⁴. See Doti for the district.

One operator flies Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, a 1-hour flight covering 440 km, then drives to Buditol in 4 hours and on to Silgadhi, allowing 4 to 5 hours for that last leg⁴. Another flies Kathmandu to Dhangadhi in about 30 minutes and drives the 190 km to Silgadhi in 8 to 9 hours⁵. The first route crosses the park’s entry gate on day 6, after a 2-hour climb from Bukipani that opens onto grassland at around 3,000 m⁴. Inside the park a small lodge and dormitory-style accommodation operates near the headquarters and ashram area⁴.

When to go

Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are the two main windows⁴. October and early November are the clearest months⁴. The monsoon, June to August, brings heavy rain and muddy tracks, and in winter, December to February, the plateau is cold and the upper trails can be snow-covered⁴.

Safety

In April 2025 a temporary tourist police post was set up in Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality of Doti to ensure the safety of visitors to Khaptad and nearby tourist areas⁶. The report gave the team as seven police personnel⁶. It was set up to protect both domestic and foreign visitors, to prevent tourist abuse and to give guiding support⁶.