Lower Dolpo trek: route, days, season, permits and cost

The Lower Dolpo circuit starts at Dunai, climbs to Dho Tarap, crosses high passes and returns by Phoksundo Lake¹. Much of lower Dolpo falls under the protection of Shey Phoksundo National Park¹. Dolpo appears in historical records since about the 8th century⁴, and the Lower Dolpo Circuit is set in the isolated western region where the landscape and people are more Tibetan than Nepali¹. The district is in Dolpa, the other Dolpo route is the Upper Dolpo trek, and the other long routes are in the treks hub.

Route and days

Magical Nepal lists the circuit as 15 days, starting and ending at Dunai, with flights in and out, moderate grade and camping¹. Days average 6 to 7 hours of walking, and the trek is recommended for experienced and fit hikers¹. Its stages:

The page’s accommodation entries conflict. The header lists camping and the inclusions give 13 nights in tents, but every trail day from 2 to 14 in the day-by-day list reads “Tea House”, and the inclusions also mention twin-sharing teahouse rooms along the trail¹.

Phoksundo Lake is at 3,611 m on the operator’s introduction¹, and on day 6 the route passes an old abandoned border post between Nepal and Tibet known as Serkam¹.

Highest point

Magical Nepal’s introduction gives the maximum altitude as 5,190 m¹. Its own figures differ elsewhere on the page: the day 9 text puts Num La at 5,290 m (another line gives 5,190 m), day 10 puts Baga La at 5,175 m (another line gives 5,070 m), and the header lists a maximum altitude of 4,465 m at Jeng La¹. This page uses the introduction’s 5,190 m for the high point.

The nights are lower: the highest camp on the table is Pelung Tang at 4,465 m¹.

Season

The operator’s best months are April to May, when it is not too cold after the winter, and mid-September to the end of October, before it gets really cold again¹. It adds that Dolpo can be visited for most of the year except winter because it sits in the monsoon rain shadow¹.

Cloud barriers cause a semi-arid climate in Dolpo, with reported annual precipitation of less than 500 millimetres⁴. Weather delays are possible on the mountain flights in the operator’s package¹. See flights to Juphal.

Permits

In October 2026 the Department of Immigration’s trekking route and permit fee table listed Lower Dolpa at USD 20 per person per week, with USD 5 per day beyond 1 week². The areas named are Thulibheri Municipality wards 1 to 11, Tripurasundari Municipality wards 1 to 11, Dolpo Buddha Rural Municipality wards 1 to 3, Shey Phoksundo Rural Municipality wards 8 and 9, Jagdulla Rural Municipality wards 1 to 6, Mudkechula Rural Municipality wards 1 to 9 and Kaike Rural Municipality wards 1 to 7².

The table lists Upper Dolpa separately, with different wards and a higher fee; see the Upper Dolpo trek. Shey Phoksundo National Park charges an entry fee: in October 2026 the Nepal Tourism Board park entry-fee table listed it at NPR 100 for Nepalis, NPR 1,500 for SAARC nationals and NPR 3,000 for foreigners, per person per entry, with children under 10 free³.

Read restricted-area permits and national park fees for how each system works.

Is the Lower Dolpo trek suitable for you?

The circuit is graded moderate, with days averaging 6 to 7 hours of walking¹. The operator recommends it for experienced and fit hikers¹. Altitude builds steadily, up to the maximum of 5,190 m, and the table has acclimatisation days at Dho Tarap on day 7 and Phoksundo Lake on day 12¹.

On day 9 the Num La Pass is 5,290 m and the way is a bit challenging¹.

Permits for the area are only given to a minimum of two trekkers¹.

One porter carries up to 20 kg for two trekkers¹.

Costs

In October 2026 Magical Nepal’s page for the 15-day circuit showed USD 800 beside USD 1,200 per person, under a 33% off label¹. The package includes 13 nights in tents and one night in a Nepalgunj hotel¹.

Lunch and dinner in Nepalgunj are excluded, and meals off the trail are at the trekker’s own cost¹. Tips for the guide and porter are extra: tipping is customary in Nepal and entirely at the trekker’s discretion¹.

Magical Nepal arranges the Shey Phoksundo national park permit and the restricted area permit before departure¹. The page puts the park permit at USD 30 per person for the whole trek, while the Nepal Tourism Board table lists NPR 3,000 per foreigner per entry^1,3.

Getting to the trailhead

The trailhead is Juphal. Magical Nepal flies Kathmandu to Nepalgunj on day 1 and Nepalgunj to Juphal on day 2, a 45-minute flight, then walks to Dunai¹. Nepalgunj is in the lowland Terai¹.

Juphal airport connects Dolpo to the rest of Nepal, and the airport can be reached in three days by horse⁴. The route returns to Juphal on day 14 and flies out the next day¹. For the transit city, see Nepalgunj; for the lake leg alone, Phoksundo Lake trek.

Along the route

On day 2 the trail leaves Juphal airport, ascends above the Thulo Bheri valley and passes through cultivated fields to Kalagaunda before Dunai¹. Agriculture is possible in Dolpo at heights of 3,800 to 4,180 m, often with irrigation⁴.

Before the long suspension bridge at Laisicap, trekkers show their permits at a police post, and the permits are checked again at Ringmo¹.

Phoksundo Lake is almost 500 ha and was designated a Ramsar site in 2008¹. The area is one of the few remaining places where the Bon Po religion is practised¹. A TU Graz research page on Shey Sumdo names the monastery, also called Crystal Monastery, as part of the most important pilgrimage site of Dolpo around the Crystal Mountain, a religious centre for Bon and Buddhist inhabitants alike⁵. Pilgrims come annually, or at least every twelve years in the Dragon Year⁵.