Valley of Flowers National Park

Valley Of Flowers in July 2007
Valley of Flowers National Park is an outstandingly beautiful high-altitude Himalayan valley that has been acknowledged as such by renowned mountaineers and botanists in literature for over a century and in Hindu Mythology for much longer.
Valley was declared a national park in 1982, and now it is a World Heritage Site. While trekking towards Valley of Flowers, one can experience the beauty of shining peaks fully covered with snow. One can also see the beautiful view of surrounding greenery and various running streams with crystal clear water. The valley is home to many celebrated flowers like the BrahmaKamal, The Blue Poppy and the Cobra Lilly. It is a much sought after haunt for flower-lovers, botanists and of course trekkers.
Apart from the flowering plants, wild animals like Himalayan birds, butterflies, Tendula, tail less rat, Musk deer, phigents, Himalayan bear etc. are enchancing the beauty too. The Valley of Flowers is an irresitible treat for zoologists, environmentalists, pilgrims.
The Base Camp
Village ghangria is the base camp for trek to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib. Since camping and overnight stay Is not allowed in the Valley of Flowers, Ghanghria is the logical base camp for the trek. Travel beyond Ghanghria is on foot at Nature’s place since the entry of ponies is prohibited. The trek is subject to strict ecological discipline and the trekker is expected to be concerned about the ecosystem of the region. After staying overnight at Ghanghria the next day trek to valley of flowers is started early in the morning. After crossing a log or iron bridge (This bridge breaks every season due to glacier) over the Laxman Ganga, 300 mts. from Ghanghria. the route of the Valley of Flowers separates from that going to Hemkund Sahib.

Water Fall Near Village Ghangria. We will see this in the evening after reaching Ghangria village. You can watch some rare birds near this fall in the evening.

Ghangria Village, The Base camp for trek to Valley of Flowers. Usually we stay here for three nights.
How to reach Valley of Flowers
Generally people from all over the world coming to Valley of Flowers need to first reach Haridwar. Haridwar is situated 200 kilometers from New Delhi in the state of Uttrakhand (India). On day one from Haridwar you need to travel by road for almost 10-12 hours and reach Govindghat. The mode of transport available is only by road.
Things to be taken care of: Do not take your own vehicle for the trip as you may get stuck on the way and you cannot leave your vehicle and move on.
The next day (day 2) you need to reach Ghangaria, the base camp to visit Valley of Flowers. You are having four options from Govindgaht to Ghangaria viz. Trek, Pony, Porter (They can carry you on their back in a basket if you weigh up to 50-60 kilograms and Helicopter). You can use any of them. If you are not a professional trekker, We recommend you to conserve your energy for the next day. As next day you will be going to Valley of flowers. For full detailed tour program for trip to Valley of Flowers kindly visit our trek page. Here detailed itinerary is given.
The next day (day 3) you will be going to Valley of Flowers. Here you need to trek on your own and no pony or helicopter service is available. Although, if you are not physically fit for trek you may hire porter/porters. Generally four porters can carry one person. Overnight stay is not allowed in Valley of Flowers, you need to be back by five in the evening and the Valley of Flowers opens at seven in the morning. Do not waste time in clicking photographs too much as should reach at least up to Pushpawati River bed. And that point is seven kilometers from the entry gate of Valley of flowers. Means you need to trek for 14 kilometers in total. We recommend you to have one extra day for Valley of Flowers as many times it rains and you require an extra day to have a good view of Valley of Flowers.

Ladies Sleeper Orchid. A very very rare flower in Valley of Flowers. It is believed that one out of 10,000 people visiting the Valley of Flowers got to see this rare Flower. This picture was taken on 4th July, 2011 by us.
Location of Valley of Flowers
Valley of Flowers is located 300 Kms North of Rishikesh, near Badrinath. You need to Travel by Road till Govindghat and from there the trek to Valley of Flowers starts. Govindghat is 20 Kms before Badrinath. Till Govidghat there is a motorable Road. Rishiksh is 6 Hours Drive from New Delhi, India.
VALLEY OF FLOWERS IS LOCATED 300 KMS NORTH OF RISHIKESH, NEAR BADRINATH
Valley of flowers after floods in Uttrakhand