Valley of Flowers Trek 2026: Best Time, Route from Govindghat, Entry Fee & Hemkund Sahib

The Valley of Flowers is a high glacial valley at about 3,350 to 3,650 m in Chamoli district, above the road to Badrinath. For most of the year it lies under snow. But when the monsoon arrives, the green bowl fills with hundreds of kinds of wild flowers: blue poppies, cobra lilies, primulas, geraniums and balsams, changing colour week by week.

The walk is not hard. A wide stone path climbs from Pulna to the base village of Ghangaria, and from there it is about 4 km into the valley. That makes it one of the best first Himalayan treks, and many people combine it with the climb to Hemkund Sahib.

The story of the valley

Shepherds and villagers of the Bhyundar valley always knew this place, and many believed fairies lived here. The outside world heard of it in 1931, when British mountaineer Frank Smythe, returning from Kamet, wandered into a valley full of flowers. His book The Valley of Flowers made it famous.

In 1939, the botanist Joan Margaret Legge came to collect plants and died after slipping on the rocks. Her grave, with a small memorial stone, is still inside the valley. The area became a national park in 1982 and, together with Nanda Devi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.