Rishikesh to Darma Valley: Distance, Route and How to Reach
Rishikesh to Dantu, where the Darma Valley road ends, is 493 km by road, through Srinagar, Didihat, Jauljibi and Dharchula. Dantu stands at about 3,150 m, 2,770 m above Rishikesh. Our trip from Delhi takes 6 days, there and back.
Rishikesh to Darma Valley in numbers
- By road
- 493 km, Rishikesh to Dantu
- As the crow flies
- 217 km
- Through
- Srinagar, Bageshwar, 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, 19:01 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 Rishikesh to Dantu, town by town
The road climbs from about 380 m at Rishikesh to about 3,150 m at Dantu; the climb begins at Srinagar, 104 km out, and the last 389 km are mountain road.
| Town | From Rishikesh | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Devprayag | 71 km | about 480 m |
| Srinagar | 104 km | about 580 m |
| Gauchar | 160 km | about 820 m |
| Gwaldam | 236 km | about 1,920 m |
| Bageshwar | 278 km | 1,004 m |
| Chaukori | 322 km | 2,010 m |
| Thal | 346 km | about 830 m |
| Didihat | 368 km | 1,725 m |
| Ogla | 377 km | about 1,510 m |
| Askot | 386 km | about 1,290 m |
| Jauljibi | 398 km | about 610 m |
| Dharchula | 426 km | 908 m |
| Tawaghat | 442 km | about 1,160 m |
| Sobla | 460 km | about 1,870 m |
| Dar | 463 km | about 2,100 m |
| Sela | 475 km | about 2,530 m |
| Nagling | 481 km | about 2,900 m |
| Baling | 486 km | about 3,120 m |
| Son | 491 km | about 3,200 m |
| Dantu | 493 km | about 3,150 m |
Temples beside this road: Baijnath Temple, 257 km from Rishikesh and Bagnath Temple, 278 km from Rishikesh.
By train or by air
No direct train from Rishikesh 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 Rishikesh 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 Rishikesh to Darma Valley
493 km by road from Rishikesh to Dantu, measured on OpenStreetMap; the road runs through Srinagar, Bageshwar, Thal, Didihat, Jauljibi and Dharchula. As the crow flies it is 217 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
- Nainital to Darma Valley336 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 Rishikesh 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
