The Adi Kailash route from Delhi to Jolingkong, leg by leg with the hours

How do you reach Adi Kailash?

You drive: Delhi to Kathgodam, Pithoragarh, Dharchula, Gunji and finally Jolingkong at about 4,500 m, about 648 km from Delhi to Gunji.

There is no flight to Adi Kailash and no long trek in from a road head. The whole thing is a road journey. Plains first, then the climb into Kumaon, then the Kali river at Dharchula, and from there the border valley carries you up to a wide, cold basin at Jolingkong, with Adi Kailash standing above Parvati Sarovar.

1. Delhi to Kathgodam, the railhead in the Kumaon foothills
2. Kathgodam to Pithoragarh, 1,645 m, the town we run the road from
3. Pithoragarh to Dharchula, 908 m, down on the Kali river: the SDM office here is where the Inner Line Permit is issued
4. Dharchula to Gunji, 3,200 m, the highest place you sleep
5. Gunji to Jolingkong, about 4,500 m, for Adi Kailash darshan at first light
6. Gunji to Nabhidhang for Om Parvat, and on to Lipulekh, over 5,000 m, for the Mount Kailash view if that day's permission comes through

On the way the plan matters more than the map. Travellers reach Gunji on day 2, spend two nights up there and come down the same road. Paperwork goes in ahead of your arrival, not on the morning you hope to set off, and the posts check your photo ID where the road narrows above the river. The Inner Line Permit guide walks you through the paperwork.

Leg by leg: distances, hours and the kind of road

Delhi to Kathgodam is about 292 km in 8 to 9 hours, Kathgodam to Pithoragarh about 183 km in 5 to 6 hours, Pithoragarh to Dharchula about 91 km in 3 to 4 hours.

The character of the road changes four times. Highway to the foothills, then a hill road with switchbacks up to Pithoragarh, then a drop to the Kali river at Dharchula, and above Dharchula a border road cut into the gorge with checkposts on it.

Two useful shorthands for planning. From Delhi it is about 480 km to Pithoragarh and about 570 km to Dharchula. From Kathgodam, the railhead beside Haldwani, it is about 273 km, and from Tanakpur, nearer by road up the eastern side, about 238 km.

Before you book, ask us how the road above Dharchula is running this week.

Where should you start: Delhi, Haldwani or Pithoragarh?

From Delhi the trip takes 6 days, from Haldwani 5 days and from Pithoragarh 4 days, all reaching Jolingkong, Nabhidhang and Lipulekh.

The road above Dharchula is the same for everyone. What changes is how much of the approach you buy and how many days you take off work.

• From Delhi, 6 days and 5 nights, ₹30,300 a person: Pithoragarh, Gunji, Jolingkong, Nabhidhang, Lipulekh, Jageshwar
• From Haldwani, 5 days and 4 nights, ₹26,300 a person: Pithoragarh, Gunji, Jolingkong, Nabhidhang, Lipulekh, Kainchi Dham
• From Pithoragarh, 4 days and 3 nights, ₹18,600 a person: Gunji, Jolingkong, Nabhidhang, Lipulekh, Shera Deval

If you can travel to Kathgodam by the overnight train, the Haldwani start saves you a day of highway driving and starts the trip in the hills. If you are flying into Delhi from another city, or bringing parents who would rather not change trains, the Delhi package picks you up and drops you back at the same point. Pithoragarh suits people already in Kumaon, or those who want the shortest way to the high valley.

By train, by air, by bus and by taxi

Tanakpur is the nearer railhead, about 238 km to Dharchula against about 273 km from Kathgodam, and Naini Saini at Pithoragarh is the nearest airport.

The overnight train from Delhi ends at Kathgodam, about 183 km short of Pithoragarh, and Haldwani beside it is where the 5-day trip starts. Pantnagar on the plains is the airport Adi Kailash Explore works with, while Naini Saini at Pithoragarh has had scheduled flights come and go. Buses and shared taxis do run in Kumaon, and what is moving above Dharchula changes with the month, the road and the weather.

On a package the transport for the full route is already in the price, driver allowance, tolls and parking inside it, so there is nothing to settle at a stand at night. If you would rather piece the journey together yourself, read doing the legs to Dharchula and beyond by bus and shared jeep.

How to reach Adi Kailash from Delhi by road

Leave Delhi at 6 am for Pithoragarh, about 480 km away, take the permit next morning and reach Gunji on day 2.

Day 1 is the long one and the least interesting: the plains, then the climb, then Pithoragarh in the Saur valley at 1,645 m with the Panchachuli peaks on its horizon. A quiet hill town to begin from rather than a city to pass through.

Day 2 starts at Dharchula, where the SDM's office issues the Inner Line Permit applied for online on the district permit portal, then turns up the valley through Chialekh and Garbyang to Gunji. Day 3 goes up to Jolingkong for first light: Adi Kailash, Parvati Sarovar and Gauri Kund. On day 4 it is Nabhidhang for Om Parvat, then Lipulekh for the Mount Kailash view if the authorities open that stretch, then back through Kalapani and down to Pithoragarh.

Coming back, the road gives you two stops worth the detour. Jageshwar Dham at 1,870 m, where about 125 old temples stand in one deodar grove, and Neem Karoli Baba's ashram at Kainchi Dham at 1,400 m, before the last run into Delhi. Laid end to end, those days are Adi Kailash from Delhi.

The high road above Dharchula: Gunji, Jolingkong and Nabhidhang

Above Dharchula at 908 m the road climbs to Gunji at 3,200 m, then about 36 km more to Jolingkong at about 4,500 m.

About 80 km of border road carry you from 908 m up to 3,200 m, cut into the gorge with the Kali running loud below and Nepal on the far bank, and permit checks on the way, so a government photo ID belongs in your pocket rather than in the bag on the roof. Past Gunji it is about 36 km to Jolingkong at about 4,500 m through Nabi and Kuti, and a short high run through Kalapani at about 3,600 m to Nabhidhang for Om Parvat, then Lipulekh at over 5,000 m when the Army and ITBP clear that stretch on the day.

Nights stay cold whichever month you drive up: Gunji in May sits near 1°C, so warm layers travel with you all season. For the surface, the slide zones, the blocks and what each stretch feels like from the seat, read the Dharchula to Gunji road, stretch by stretch.

How much walking is there at Adi Kailash?

Adi Kailash Explore drives the route, leaving only short walks at the darshan points, and the highest night is Gunji or Nabi, 3,200 m to about 3,290 m, rather than a camp.

People search for the Adi Kailash trek distance and expect days of walking with a rucksack. There are none. The vehicle takes you to Jolingkong, and from where it stops you walk a short stretch on level, stony ground to Parvati Sarovar and the temple beside it. Those who wish take a dip in the lake. Gauri Kund and the Pandav Parvat ridge are close by on the same walk.

What the walk asks for is not fitness so much as patience with the air. At about 4,500 m a hundred metres of gentle slope feels like a flight of stairs. Go slowly, stop when you want to, and let the guide set the pace. Oxygen travels in the vehicles and an acclimatisation day is built into the plan. On the way back down there is Manokamna Temple at Nabi village, another short walk.

There is a proper morning's walk to Khaliya Top on the Munsiyari trip, and a day on foot towards Panchachuli Base Camp on the Darma trip. Adi Kailash is not that kind of trip: the walking stays short, and the road does the climbing.

Ask us how long the walk at Jolingkong takes for your family, and we will tell you plainly.

From Kolkata, Mumbai and Bangalore: how travellers join

Fly or take a train to Delhi and join the 6-day trip there, or reach Kathgodam and start from Haldwani, about 276 km from Dharchula.

The nearest airport to the Vyas valley is Naini Saini at Pithoragarh, and its scheduled flights have come and gone: Delhi from 7 November 2024, Dehradun again from 26 March 2026. Every traveller from a far city joins the road at one of two places, and both work well if you give yourself a night before the trip starts.

• Through Delhi: fly or train into Delhi, sleep there, and leave at 6 am on day 1 with the Delhi group. Simplest for Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chennai.
• Through Kathgodam: the overnight train from Delhi, or a flight to Pantnagar, then the Haldwani start. From Haldwani it is about 185 km to Pithoragarh.
• Already in Kumaon: begin at Pithoragarh, about 168 km from Gunji by road, and use the 4-day route.

Whichever of those cities your package names is where pickup and drop-off happen, and a solo traveller takes a seat on a shared departure rather than paying for a whole vehicle. The guides work in Hindi, English and Kumaoni, and a single Pithoragarh team stays with your thread from the first message until you are back home.

Side trips on the same road: Kainchi Dham, Jageshwar, Munsiyari, Darma

Jageshwar at 1,870 m and Kainchi Dham at 1,400 m sit on the return legs, while Munsiyari is about 125 km from Pithoragarh.

The drive back down is where the temples fit. On the Delhi route you stop at Jageshwar and then Kainchi Dham. From Haldwani the last day takes in Sera Deval (Shera Deval on some signs) near Pithoragarh and Kainchi Dham. The Pithoragarh route ends with Sera Deval and the Kamakhya Devi temple on the hill above the town, and time in the town's markets.

Two valleys nearby take a separate trip rather than an extra afternoon. Munsiyari sits about 125 km out of Pithoragarh and about 94 km from Dharchula, facing the Panchachuli wall, and Khaliya Top above it is a proper morning's trek. The Darma valley road leaves the Kali at Tawaghat, where the Dhauli Ganga joins it, and climbs past Sobla, about 37 km from Dharchula, to Dugtu and Dantu, with nights in Rung family homestays and a day on foot towards Panchachuli Base Camp.

Neither of them needs the Vyas valley permit or takes you to 3,200 m for the night, so they are different trips with different demands. Ask us if you want to put one after the other in a single run of leave.