Api base camp trek: route, days, season and costs from Darchula

Api Himal stands at 7,132 m in Darchula district, near Nepal’s border⁴. The base camp trek is the walk to its foot, and operators disagree on how long it takes and how high base camp sits, so this page sets the three published itineraries side by side. Other far-west routes are listed in the treks hub, and the protected area is covered in Api Nampa Conservation Area.

Route and days

Western Nepal Treks’ 12-day version starts and ends at Makarighad¹. Its header lists public vehicle transport, local homestay accommodation and a group size of 2 or more¹. It reaches the trailhead by bus and jeep and gives distances for each stage¹:

Best Heritage Treks’ 9-day version reaches base camp on day 4²:

Best Heritage Treks’ 9-day version bookends the walk with road days. Day 1 is a tourist bus from Kathmandu to Attariya, a 14 to 16 hour overland drive². Day 2 is a 4WD run from Attariya to Gokuleshwor and Makarigaad of 9 to 10 hours². The way out is day 8, a 6 to 7 hour drive from Gokuleshwor to Attariya, and day 9, a 14 to 16 hour overnight bus to Kathmandu².

Alpine Journeys’ 16-day version flies to Dhangadhi and drives to Gokuleshwor on day 3³. Its walking stages run day by day³:

The same page returns by road to Dhangadhi on day 14 and flies to Kathmandu on day 15³.

Itineraries side by side

The three published versions differ most in length, base camp day and grade^1,2,3.

The short version gets to base camp fastest by driving the whole road to Makarigaad first and gaining 1,100 m on day 3². The long version spends 6 more days walking in and out through Chiureni, Makarighat, Seti and Domal³. Alpine Journeys’ return leaves Dhangadhi on day 15 by air to Kathmandu, after a drive back on day 14³.

Highest point

Best Heritage Treks gives 4,100 m for Api base camp², and Alpine Journeys gives 3,900 m³. Western Nepal Treks lists a maximum altitude of 4,200 m in its header¹. This page uses 4,100 m, which Best Heritage Treks gives in both its header and its day 4 stage². The peak itself is 7,132 m⁴, and the Api Nampa Conservation Area climbs from 518 m to that summit⁶.

The mountain

Api, also called Api Himal, is the highest peak in the Yoka Pahar section of the Gurans Himal⁴. It is the highest mountain in Nepal’s far west, in Darchula district of Sudurpashchim Province near the international border^2,4. Its south face rises 3,300 m above its base⁴, and the first ascent was in 1960⁴.

The base camp days are long: Western Nepal Treks’ day 7 covers about 15 km to base camp and the Kali Dhunga lake and back to Dhaule Odar¹. Best Heritage Treks puts the climb from Siti Village to base camp at 8 to 9 hours of strenuous trekking².

How hard is it

Best Heritage Treks grades its 9-day trek demanding or strenuous, with rapid altitude gain². Day 3 gains 1,100 m in 6 to 7 hours of trekking, and day 4 takes 8 to 9 hours to reach 4,100 m². Alpine Journeys grades the 16-day version moderate and asks for 5 to 7 hours of walking a day with a light backpack³.

The 12-day version has stages of 5 hours to 7.5 hours on the way in, and a day of 18 km on the way out¹. Alpine Journeys runs the trek mostly as a camping trek, with porters carrying the tents and camping equipment³.

Season

Alpine Journeys names pre-monsoon, March to May, as the best season, when rhododendrons are in full bloom, followed by October and November with clear skies³. Its header lists March to May and September to November³. December to February is very cold, with snow blocking routes, and the monsoon months of June to September bring rain that makes trails slippery and difficult³.

Best Heritage Treks pitches its 9-day version to Nepali tourists for Ashoj and Kartik, the months of Dashain and Tihar².

Permits

In October 2026 the Department of Immigration’s trekking permit table carried one Darchula row: USD 90 per person per week, then USD 15 per day beyond 1 week, for Vyas Rural Municipality ward 1⁵. The row does not name Api or Makarighad.

The Api Nampa Conservation Area, which reaches up to Api peak at 7,132 m⁶, charges entry per person per entry. In October 2026 the Nepal Tourism Board’s park entry-fee table set it as follows, with children under 10 free⁷:

Area-by-area rules are in restricted-area permits.

Costs

In October 2026 Western Nepal Treks priced a trekking package at 1,550 euro, with a 400 euro flight ticket extra as an option¹. The same page put the one-way Kathmandu to Dhangadhi flight at almost USD 200¹.

Alpine Journeys’ version is mostly a camping trek with porters carrying tents, with basic teahouses or homestays in a few lower villages³. Its package includes the 2-way flight between Kathmandu and Dhangadhi and takes groups of 1 to 20 people³. Best Heritage Treks’ 9-day itinerary page is dated 19 June 2026². That plan gives day 5 as an exploration day at base camp, and day 6 as a 7 to 8 hour downhill walk to Siti Village².

The conservation area

The Api Nampa Conservation Area was established in 2010 and covers 1,903 sq. km⁸. It takes in parts or all of five rural municipalities and one municipality, with a resident population of approximately 60,000 people⁸. It borders India to the west⁸, and it is part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape⁶. The ICIMOD biodiversity profile is the nonprofit source for those figures.

Getting to the trailhead

The base is Dhangadhi. From Kathmandu, the flight takes about 1 hour¹, and the overland alternative is a night bus to Attariya of about 750 km and 18 hours¹. Best Heritage Treks gives 14 to 16 hours for the Kathmandu to Attariya bus².

From Attariya the road goes up to Latinath, a night bus of about 260 km and 13 hours¹, and then a jeep on to Makarigad¹. Best Heritage Treks drives Attariya to Gokuleshwor and Makarigaad in 9 to 10 hours in a 4WD vehicle². The route and its places are covered in Darchula.