Singalila Ridge

The Singalila Ridge rises steadily from the broiling lowlands of the Indian plains to the majestic, icy vastness of Kangchenjunga, at 8,586m the world’s third highest peak. This is a delightful walk, ascending through wonderful forests to a long high central section of the Singalila Ridge, gaining superb (really unbeatable) views of the high Himalayas. The early and late views are outstanding – you can see four of the world’s five highest peaks from the ridge (Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse and Makalu) in vivid, slanted colours. (Most of the ridges you walk are above 3,000m –  high but not too high!) Wonderful flowers in spring but the best views are in Autumn.  

In essence, you spend 3 days getting onto the main ridge and acclimatizing – you will camp at over 3,600m on the high ridge. You then have 1 ½ days of meandering along the high ridge toward Kanchenjunga, some of the best walking to be had anywhere, followed by 1 ½ days of descent. This means that days 2 and 3 are quite short. The ascent and descent are fine walks, with exciting views, in their own right, so don’t be put off.

As well as extraordinary views, you will be delighted and fascinated by the vegetation zones you pass through – mixed forest, to bamboo, to rhododendron-and-pine, to shrublands, to grassy ridgetops. Some of it looks sculptural, some downright weird. (Don’t expect virgin forest, though.) Fauna include red pandas (which you are sadly most unlikely to see), bear, boar (which you might),Barking deer and psychadelic pheasants.

The Singalila Ridge forms the border between India and Nepal, and you will spend some time in Nepal. The area was sensitive at the time of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, and you still have to sign in at various military checkpoints.

The Indian side is visibly different from the Nepali: as a National Park, it is cloaked in rich and wild, if not actually virgin, forest, with little habitation, whereas the hills are deforested and the valleys heavily farmed on the Nepal side.

You will pass teahouses, hamlets and army checkpoints, but are usually above regularly inhabited land here, while passing through some high, summer grazing meadows. You can stay in simple mountain huts, or camp. It is possible to walk the ridge without a support team, as the trail is well-established and there are resthouses and available food.

(Arguably the very best of the ridge, to the north and higher up the ridge than this walk, is described at Singalila Ridge to Kangchenjunga, but is currently inaccessible, with permits to go there not being granted due to the sensitivity of the India/Nepal border which the path follows – and it is tough walking and takes many days.)

People usually walk the ridge northward towards Kanchenjunga, which has obvious advantages: the Great One is always in view, and your back is to the sun.

Day 1:

From your roadhead (there are several options, the most commonly used are Maneyghanjang and Dhodary), you will climb up to 800m to Tonglu, at 3,000m. This can be a long, altitudinous slog, although you can start higher, as Walkopedia did, at  Dhodray Tonglu is an interesting place, a medicinal plant centre sitting on a hilltop plateau with fabulous views to Kanchenjunga, weather permitting.

Day 2:

A shortish day’s walking (4 hours or so) traverses very pleasantly below the top of a subsidiary ridge which leads to the main Singalila ridge. Lovely views. Kalpokhari, again on a ridgetop and pretty exposed, is a bit of a godforsaken hamlet (well it felt thus when Walkopedia was there – see our account) – you don’t come here for the gorgeous campsites, it must be said.

Day 3:

3 hours or so of steepish slog to Sandakphu (at 3,136m), on the main ridge. You’re there! If you have started early enough, you should still see this walk’s raison d’être, the truly outstanding view of the high Himalayas, from Chu Oyu, Everest, Lhotse  and Makalu in the west to the local lad, huge and magnificent Kanchenjunga directly ahead. Superlatives will abound. With luck, camp away from the depressing hotel and modern complex. Be ready for a cold night.

Day 4:

Should start with one of the world’s best dawn views. Then a marvelous meander along the ridge, revelling in the scenery and very extraordinary vegtetation. Pray it isn’t cloudy. Another cold night is likely.

Day 5:

More of the ridge, again outstanding walking. Then a 1,200m descent – one of the easiest and best laid Walkopedia has encountered, but tiring nonetheless – through fascinatingly different vegetation zones to the delightful village of Samadan, houses dotted among small terraced fields.

Day 6:

Trek out through forests, fields and villages to the road head at Rimbik. A very pleasant 5 hours or so.

Some points to note (the travel companies tend not to warn adequately on them):

• The ridge is cloudy for quite a lot of the year, so choose your timing carefully.
• In Autumn, the days start bright and clear, but often have clouded over by lunchtime, and you will likely find yourself in thick, cold cloud. This means that starting early is advisable, so you get the best of the day. With a number of quite short walking days, the flip side of this is that you will have many hours to pass in a cold cloud-girt camp. This sounds unappealing, but it is worth it. But bring plenty of things to occupy you.
• All campsites for the first 4 nights are right on top of 3,000 – 3,600m ridges. They get cold. Come prepared. And they are dreary and degraded compared to the beautiful camping to be met elsewhere in the Himalayas.
• You can get white-out days even in high season. Be prepared to be accepting. We understand that from mid-November onwards these are the norm.
• Most of the walking is on jeep tracks. You get used to it, and it can make for the sort of walking where you don’t have to watch every step. But this does mean people, including tourist groups driving up to the hotel at the Sandakplu viewpoint. So, while this is a marvellously scenic walk, you won’t feel remote.

See extracts from David Briese’s excellent account of his time on the Ridge, below, or the full text at www.gang-gang.net/nomad/sikkim/Sikkim02. It is worth noting that David’s route was the reverse of that described here – and one should sympathize with and note his cloud-bound time on the best high-ridge section. He is impressively sanguine about it.

See our Kangchenjunga / Singalila page for more information and other treks in the area.