Nainital to Darma Valley: Distance, Route and How to Reach
Nainital to Dantu, where the Darma Valley road ends, is 336 km by road, through Bhowali, Didihat, Jauljibi and Dharchula. Dantu stands at about 3,150 m, 1,180 m above Nainital. Our trip from Delhi takes 6 days, there and back.
Nainital to Darma Valley in numbers
- By road
- 336 km, Nainital to Dantu
- As the crow flies
- 142 km
- Through
- Bhowali, Berinag, Thal, Didihat, Jauljibi, Dharchula
- Dantu stands at
- about 3,150 m
- Nearest station
- Tanakpur, 306 km by road
- Nearest airport
- Pithoragarh Airport, 157 km by road
- With us
- 6 days from Delhi
Is the Darma valley road open now?
As of
Open in winter: the road to Dantu is driven by 4x4, with families in the villages
- Winter
- Families stay on in Dantu and Dugtu through the winter, and the road from Dharchula is driven in local 4x4s with hill drivers, in snow. Our Panchachuli Base Camp Expedition stays at Darma 360 in Dantu every Friday to 18 December, and at Christmas, 22 to 28 December. (Adi Kailash Explore's team in Darma, 6 November 2026)
- The road
- The road from Sobla reaches Dugtu and Dantu. It reopened on 8 September 2026, light vehicles first, after the monsoon had cut the valley off on 5 September. Earlier this year it closed for an avalanche between Baling and Dugtu (2 April) and for rockfalls at Pangbawe (7 to 9 June, 21 July). (Amar Ujala, 8 September 2026; Amar Ujala, 5 September 2026; Amar Ujala, 3 April 2026; Amar Ujala, 10 June 2026)
- Permits
- The district's online permit covers Adi Kailash and Om Parvat only, and no official rule for Darma is published. Reports differ on whether Indian travellers need one for Darma: carry government photo ID, and ask us for your dates. (The district's permit portal, checked 21 October 2026; AajTak, 14 June 2026; ETV Bharat, 3 April 2026)
The position changes with the weather and the district's orders. Ask us on WhatsApp where it stands today
The weather now at Dantu, and the next 7 days
The forecast is for the village's own height, refreshed through the day. Highs and lows are in °C; times are IST.
Dantuabout 3,150 m
−1°CClear
Now, 19:02 IST · wind 6 km/h
- Clear−1° −9°Dry
- Clear6° −12°Dry
- Partly cloudy4° −14°Dry
- Mostly clear5° −15°Dry
- Partly cloudy4° −13°Dry
- Clear8° −9°Dry
- Clear8° −10°Dry
Forecast for about 3,150 m, updated . Data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0); the daily figures are worked out by us.
The road from Nainital to Dantu, town by town
The road climbs from about 1,970 m at Nainital to about 3,150 m at Dantu.
| Town | From Nainital | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Bhowali | 13 km | about 1,700 m |
| Kainchi Dham | 20 km | 1,400 m |
| Ratighat | 26 km | about 1,060 m |
| Garampani | 30 km | about 930 m |
| Almora | 68 km | 1,642 m |
| Chitai Golu Devta temple | 72 km | about 1,630 m |
| Barechhina | 82 km | about 1,430 m |
| Dhaulchhina | 96 km | about 1,850 m |
| Seraghat | 124 km | about 720 m |
| Berinag | 159 km | about 1,790 m |
| Chaukori | 170 km | 2,010 m |
| Thal | 188 km | about 830 m |
| Didihat | 210 km | 1,725 m |
| Ogla | 219 km | about 1,510 m |
| Askot | 228 km | about 1,290 m |
| Jauljibi | 240 km | about 610 m |
| Dharchula | 268 km | 908 m |
| Tawaghat | 284 km | about 1,160 m |
| Sobla | 302 km | about 1,870 m |
| Dar | 305 km | about 2,100 m |
| Sela | 317 km | about 2,530 m |
| Nagling | 323 km | about 2,900 m |
| Baling | 328 km | about 3,120 m |
| Son | 333 km | about 3,200 m |
| Dantu | 336 km | about 3,150 m |
Temples beside this road: Kainchi Dham, 20 km from Nainital, Nanda Devi Temple, Almora, 66 km from Nainital and Chitai Golu Devta Temple, 72 km from Nainital.
By train or by air
No direct train from Nainital is in the timetables we checked (22 Oct 2026). The stations nearest Dantu are Tanakpur station (306 km by road), Kathgodam station (337 km by road) and Haldwani station (345 km by road): each page has every train that runs there.
No direct flight from Nainital is listed for the airports near Dantu: Pithoragarh Airport (157 km by road). The airport pages have every flight that lands there.
How many days it takes
6 days from Delhi and 6 days from Haldwani, both there and back. The Delhi trip spends the first night at Pithoragarh and reaches Dantu on day two. The Haldwani trip drives in on day one, in one long day. Both then give a full day to Panchachuli Base Camp or Zero Point and Duktu village before turning back down the valley.
Yes, the valley is reached by road and both Adi Kailash Explore trips drive in: Dharchula, then Sobla, then up to Dantu, where you sleep in a homestay. How far a vehicle gets above the villages on the Panchachuli Base Camp day depends on the state of the road that week, which is why both itineraries say base camp or Zero Point, road conditions permitting.
Staying at Dantu
17 places to stay in Dantu, each on the map with the peaks in view and a link to book. Before you pack: Dantu weather, every month on 30 years of data.
Questions about Nainital to Darma Valley
336 km by road from Nainital to Dantu, measured on OpenStreetMap; the road runs through Bhowali, Berinag, Thal, Didihat, Jauljibi and Dharchula. As the crow flies it is 142 km.
Not in the timetables we checked (22 Oct 2026). The nearest station to Dantu is Tanakpur, 306 km by road; every train that runs there is on its page.
Tanakpur (TPU), 306 km by road to Dantu; Kathgodam (KGM), 337 km by road to Dantu; Haldwani (HDW), 345 km by road to Dantu. From the station the rest is by road.
Pithoragarh Airport (NNS), 157 km by road to Dantu. Check the flights for your dates: the last stretch is always by road.
Yes, the valley is reached by road and both Adi Kailash Explore trips drive in: Dharchula, then Sobla, then up to Dantu, where you sleep in a homestay. How far a vehicle gets above the villages on the Panchachuli Base Camp day depends on the state of the road that week, which is why both itineraries say base camp or Zero Point, road conditions permitting.
6 days from Delhi and 6 days from Haldwani, both there and back. The Delhi trip spends the first night at Pithoragarh and reaches Dantu on day two. The Haldwani trip drives in on day one, in one long day. Both then give a full day to Panchachuli Base Camp or Zero Point and Duktu village before turning back down the valley.
Darma Valley from other cities
- Darma Valley: the whole guide
- Delhi to Darma Valley622 km by road
- Dehradun to Darma Valley538 km by road
- Haldwani to Darma Valley343 km by road
- Lucknow to Darma Valley625 km by road
- Rishikesh to Darma Valley493 km by road
- Pithoragarh to Darma Valley159 km by road
- Munsiyari to Darma Valley161 km by road
- Dharchula to Darma Valley70 km by road
From Nainital to the other places on the road
How we made this page
The road is OpenStreetMap's, routed for a car by two public routers (OSRM and Valhalla), the shorter of the two kept; a town is on it when it lies within a few hundred metres of the line (a village) or 2.5 km (a town centre). Heights are the site's published figures, else a 90 m elevation model, shown as "about". Trains and flights are from the railway and airline timetables, buses and taxis from the operators and the news, each linked where it is used. No drive times: a router's times are plains times. If anything here is out of date, tell us on WhatsApp.
About Adi Kailash Explore
Adi Kailash Explore (adikailash.io) is a tour operator based in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, that specialises in one route: Adi Kailash and Om Parvat, the Darma valley and Munsiyari. It runs departures from Delhi, Haldwani and Pithoragarh, and its team files the Inner Line Permit for every Adi Kailash traveller at SDM Dharchula. It is recognised by Uttarakhand Tourism, certified by MSME, Govt. of India (UDYAM-UK-09-0012927) and verified on the NIDHI Portal, and was founded by Vinay Verma. Why travel with us
